Two men have been jailed for stealing goods worth almost £500 from Penrith’s Sainsbury’s store as they went on a shoplifting spree.
Gary James Hetherington and Kieron Lowe, both aged 43, teamed up to snatch high value goods from three shops during the course of several weeks. Prosecutor Peter Kelly told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court the pair struck at a city B&M outlet on 8th August.
“Some toys have been selected and they left the store without offering any form of payment,” said the prosecutor. “They have been challenged by a member of staff who has been able to recover the property. The incident is captured on CCTV.”
The toys were valued at more than £215.
There were two more copycat crimes. On 30th August, the partners-in-crime, both of Baird Road in Carlisle, visited a city Aldi store on Petteril Bank Road and were caught on camera pinching steaks priced at £47.92.
And five days later they headed south to Sainsbury’s in Penrith where they stole meat and alcohol with a total value of just under £500. “This has been detected on CCTV,” said Mr Kelly. Hetherington had gone solo as he made three separate trips to the Spar shop, Petteril Bank Road, on 15th July and made off with alcohol and detergent worth a total of £43.23; and also a bottle of wine from Aldi on 31st August.
He admitted five thefts and Lowe pleaded guilty to four counts of shoplifting having also stolen from the Blackwell Road Co-op in Carlisle on 3rd September. Hetherington further admitted he committed the offences in breach of a previously imposed community order.
His solicitor, Chris Toms, said it had been a spree of offending. “He had been contacted by people he owed old drug debts to and was told they wanted their money,” said Mr Toms.
“He was selling them (the stolen goods) and paying the money back in relation to that old debt.”
There had been period in recent years when Hetherington had not offended, he told the court.
Hetherington was jailed for a total of 20 weeks and Lowe was given a 16-week jail term.
Magistrates concluded in the case of each man that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate.
