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31
Oct
Thieves admit thefts worth over £2,000
Harrogate Magistrates Court heard several theft cases on Thursday (October 29), involving more than £2,000 worth of stolen items.
Here is a round-up of the cases we heard in just one afternoon.
Champagne and creatine
A Harrogate man stole almost £1,350 worth of products, including 11 bottles of champagne from Waitrose, and assaulted a police officer.
Christopher Penny, of Albany Avenue, pleaded guilty to a total of 14 thefts over the course of a month.
He also admitted assaulting a police officer who attempted to arrest him after one of the thefts. Penny kicked the officer in the chest when being put in a police van, although no injury was caused.
Some of the places he stole at include Tesco in Harrogate and Killinghall, Asda, Waitrose, Holland and Barrett and Sainsbury’s.
The former resident of Harrogate Homeless Project has been convicted of numerous other thefts over the past decade.
Harrogate Magistrates Court pictured during a magistrates open day. Credit: Matt Watson-Power/Flickr.
His defence argued that the 46-year-old has suffered from alcoholism and drug addiction since he was 15, recently lost his support network and also has suffered homelessness, although is currently at a permanent address.
It also said rehabilitation was a better option than prison, where he might be exposed to drugs and alcohol.
A pre-sentencing report stated that Penny was “likely to continue offending due to a chaotic lifestyle” and that there had been poor compliance with community orders in the past.
Penny still owes about £300 to the court from previous fines.
During sentencing, the magistrate called Penny a “prolific offender” and gave him a 34-week sentence, suspended for 12 months, a well as a 12-month community order and six months of mandatory drug rehabilitation.
No compensation was awarded to the stores, but Penny was told to pay £100 to the officer he assaulted. With court costs, he was fined with a total of £372.
Harrogate Magistrates Court.
Harrogate woman stole £351 of products
A Harrogate woman stole a number of products, from a £1.20 cake and five bottles of sweet chilli sauce to £40 worth of vodka and a £91 grocery shop.
Sainsbury’s, Co-op, Tesco and Waitrose were all targeted between May 20 and September 16.
Keeley Clark, 34, pleaded guilty to all 10 counts of theft, as well as the use of threatening words to cause alarm towards a member of Tesco staff.
Clark was living at Beech Avenue, but has been attending a residential rehabilitation centre, Evolve, in Bradford for the last six weeks.
A report by the centre said Clark is making good progress with the programme and has provided consistently clean urine samples.
She was released on bail for a pre-sentencing report to be made, and will appear at Bradford Magistrates Court on December 14.
Ripon man stole bike, keys and alcohol
Kai Suttill, of College Road, stole items in Harrogate and Scarborough.
On April 12, he stole a bicycle worth £300 and sunglasses, keys and a bodywarmer from a car in Harrogate.
On July 27, he stole alcohol worth £24.50 from Sainsbury’s and One Stop Stores in Scarborough.
Tesco Express on Cambridge Road in Harrogate.
He pleaded guilty to all counts, and the case was adjourned for another meeting with a probation officer. He is next due in court on December 11.
More cases this week
These three cases were just the ones the Stray Ferret attended.
The next day, October 30, an individual pleaded guilty to 23 counts of theft, mostly of alcohol, totalling over £200.
Another person admitted stealing £670 worth of items from TK Maxx in Harrogate, while another stole almost £150 worth of food from Co-op over three different occasions.
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