Croissant-munching French tourists given tongue-lashing by Australian magistrate

A magistrate in Australia has lashed out at two French tourists who walked around a Darwin supermarket eating croissants and sandwiches without paying for them. One of the men also possessed 28.2g of cannabis. Tourists Akim Daemen, 27 and Maxime Le Bihan, 26, spent a night in custody after their mid-afternoon sandwich binge on Monday at the expense of supermarket giant Coles.

Darwin Magistrates Court was told the men walked into the Mitchell Centre supermarket on Monday, headed straight for the deli and helped themselves to some pre-made sandwiches, croissants and wraps before grabbing some soft drink from the fridge. Without paying for the items, Daemen and Le Bihan ate and drank the goods while still on the premises. They also stole 25 party poppers and some glitter spray intended to celebrate Le Bihan's birthday - which was on Tuesday.

Magistrate Elisabeth Armitage said: "I'm unimpressed by your conduct - you're a tourist here and you abused your holiday time by stealing from our shops." She said their behavior showed "great disrespect and disregard for the laws of this country". Ms Armitage told Daemen that he had now received three convictions - one from a previous incident of stealing - in the Territory. "If you continue to stay here and behave this way, then you can expect to spend more time in our prison system," she said.

Lawyer Shane McMaster told the court that it was a common offense for backpackers to tour the Territory, run out of money and start helping themselves to food at the supermarket. "It was a culmination of stupidity and desperation," he said. Ms Armitage imposed no further penalty for the stealing charge, taking into account they had spent two days in custody. She fined Daemen $600 for possession of cannabis.