A drug dealer was foiled in a bid to use a cut price mango to fool a self-service till into giving him £30 off his shopping.

Aidon Byrne, 22, used the barcode for the 52p fruit to trick the machine at Macclesfield’s Tesco store, a court heard.

When security staff became suspicious of Byrne’s behaviour they approached him but he ran from the store on Exchange Street. Police were called and caught up with Byrne on Buxton Road. The court also heard that despite not paying for a number of items the supermarket giant had to REFUND Byrne the £25 he had spent on the items as they were fully recovered.

At Macclesfield magistrates’ court, Byrne, of Friars Way, Macclesfield, admitted fraud by false representation.

He was fined £150 for the fraud offence but now has a nervous wait to see if the conviction will lead judges at Bristol Crown Court to trigger a 12 month suspended sentence he got in August last year for drug dealing.

Debbie Byrne, prosecuting, said: “On August 3 the defendant was in Tesco on Exchange Street and was using a self-service till.

“He was scanning what appeared to be a credit card while buying items of food. He was approached by security and ran away only to be detained by police on Buxton Road.

“Analysis of the transactions found that Byrne had bought £55 worth of goods, but the receipt only showed £25 in payment. He had used a bankcard with a reduced sticker for a 52p mango on the back to get a substantially reduced price for the items.”

The court heard that when Byrne was interviewed by police he admitted that he committed the fraud because he was “strapped for cash and didn’t have enough money”.

Peter Casson, defending, said Byrne was a joiner who had worked for the same company in Stockport for a number of years. He said: “He lives with his mum but is responsible for buying his own food.

“On this occasion he has paid for food at a reduced price using a mango reduction ticket. He finds it hard to makes ends meet financially. He doesn’t earn a great deal.

“He realises it was a stupid thing to do.”

The court heard that Byrne also has two previous convictions for theft.