SINGAPORE 5 (Reuters) - A man who stole smelly shoes because he was addicted to their odour was sentenced to 25 weeks in jail by a Singapore court, the Straits Times newspaper reported. Lorry driver Zainal Mohamed Esa, 43, did not steal the shoes to sell, but out of a "burning desire, akin to that of a drug addict, to sniff used pairs of shoes", his lawyer Rai Ratan Kumar was quoted as saying. Zainal, whose obsession was a psychological need, said his lawyer, kept the shoes until the smell waned and then gave them to the Salvation Army or tried to return them to their owners. Police got on the scent of the shoe thief after a tip-off from a resident living near the site of the thefts. Zainal had 40 pairs of shoes when he was caught last November. In January the police caught him again with 28 pairs. He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and two counts of fraudulent possession and is out on bail until his sentence starts on April 1.