He made the comments while dealing with the case of Leon Benjamin Noble, who stole vodka from the Co-op Grande Marché in St Helier on two occasions in September.
Noble, of Route de la Haule, St Peter, was fined £300 after taking a 35-cl bottle of Smirnoff Red Label vodka at 12.30 pm on 7 September and another one at 4.30 pm on 11 September.
The value of the thefts was £19.98. Mr Harris asked why it had taken two months for the matter to come to court and was told by Centenier Danny Scaife: ‘It should not have taken so long and it is certainly not any delay we have caused.’
Last year Mr Harris criticised the Co-op group on three occasions for the time it was taking to report offences.
In this latest case, the Assistant Magistrate said that delays in reporting offences were not helpful to anyone. He added: ‘In my view the Co-op are not doing sufficient to prevent this sort of offence and a licensee has a responsibility to do so.’
As a result, he said that he was not prepared to make an order for compensation.
Centenier Scaife said that the offending put Noble in breach of probation and community service orders imposed in June. The court heard that he had completed 65 hours and 55 hours remained outstanding.
Advocate James Bell, defending, said his client was feeling low at the time of the thefts but he had not reoffended since the incidents.
Mr Harris said that he would not impose any separate penalty for the breaches and would allow the existing probation and community service orders to stand. However, he warned Noble to stay out of trouble or risk being sent to prison.
