A MAN who was due to fly to the Caribbean to get married this weekend is instead behind bars after being jailed for stealing thousands of pounds worth of electrical goods.

Kenneth Buckley's partner burst into tears in the public gallery at Liverpool Crown Court when a judge jailed him for four months, saying the offence was too serious for any other punishment.

The court heard that Buckley, aged 28, a forklift truck driver, began working for Total Storage Ltd in Newton-le-Willows in April and unknown to his bosses began using a forklift truck to take items and hide them under piles of rubbish in the warehouse forecourt. He returned later and took them.

Suspicions were aroused in May and when police raided his home on June 4, they found £4,000 worth of electrical goods, including two television sets, a DVD player and cameras, said Miss Sophie Smith, prosecuting.

Buckley, of Lime Avenue, Leigh, who has a previous conviction for stealing bottles of whisky from a former employer for which he was fined last December, pleaded guilty to theft.

Anthony Limont, defending, said prison would mean Buckley missing his marriage to his partner in Barbados, for which they had planned to fly out on Sunday with their three-year-old son. He had paid out £6,000 for the wedding and honeymoon.

His partner had urged him to return the items, but instead he just hid them in the attic.