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Sunday 24 March 2019

Serial Shop Thief Wishes Cancer on Magistrates


An Ilkeston man has been jailed for committing a string of shop thefts.

Adam Dean, 26, of the town's Hallam Fields, admitted three charges of shop theft during his recent appearance at Nottingham Magistrates' Court. He also admitted being in breach of a conditional discharge imposed for shop theft on a previous occasion.

The court heard that Dean committed his first offence on 24th February 2019, when he entered the One Stop convenience store and walked out with £45.90 worth of grooming products without offering payment.

On 5th March he entered the town's Wilko store and walked out with a pair of curtains.

The following day he entered the local Morrisons supermarket and walked out with £75 worth of merchandise.

Prosecutor Peter Bettany said: "All of the offences were caught on CCTV but none of the goods were recovered so I would ask for compensation.

"In his police interview the defendant said in terms of the first offence he was hungry so he grabbed anything he could.

"He said he stole the curtains to order and grabbed them from the store to give to a person who he would not name and who paid him later.

"And he said when he went to Morrisons for the third offence it was not his intention to steal but while he was in the shop he started to withdraw from heroin and grabbed whatever he could to sell so he could buy some."


John Hay, defending, said: "He told me in the cells, before the hearing 'I have got no hope' and that is quite a despairing and depressing message to get from him today.

"He is not living a pleasant lifestyle at the moment, it is filled with drugs and is chaotic.

"The probation service have said it is too chaotic for them to offer him a drug rehabilitation requirement which would help him.

"He seems to feel there is no point in life."

Mr Hay went on to explain that Dean's mother had died in her 40s due to cancer, which had effectively left him homeless, living a hand-to-mouth lifestyle and rekindled his addiction to heroin.

Louise Doble, chair of the bench, told Dean that he would be sent to prison for 20 weeks and he was ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge.

He shouted from the dock: "Is that it? Give me more if you want?"

Mrs Doble replied: "We understand you are struggling."

Dean, who by now had sat down in the dock and refused to stand back up, said back: "No you don’t. You have no idea. I hope you all die of cancer."

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