A pair of Scunthorpe shop thieves have been jailed for stealing toilet rolls from a local supermarket.
Andrew McGeechan, 41, and Stuart Smith, 37, both of Normanby Road, Scunthorpe, each admitted one charge of theft when they appeared in custody at Grimsby Magistrates' Court on Monday, 6th April 2020.
District Judge Daniel Curtis heard details of how the dynamic duo, subsequently nicknamed the "bog roll boys", committed their audacious raid on Scunthorpe's Market Asia supermarket on Sunday afternoon.
Martin Howarth, prosecuting, explained that one of the men went into the shop and started throwing packs of toilet rolls into the street where the other was waiting. The pair made off with 5 packs of 36 toilet rolls, worth a total of £34.95.
Owing to the coronavirus lockdown, the pair realised that toilet rolls were in short supply and could be easily sold on to fund their drugs habits.
"They were pursued and stopped," said Mr Howarth.
"They were detained and the toilet rolls were recovered in a resaleable condition."
Committing the offence put McGeechan in breach of a 10-week suspended sentence for theft and Smith in breach of an 8-week suspended sentence for theft.
Chris Dickins, mitigating, said the thieves were caught red-handed and the idea was to sell the toilet rolls because they had no money whatsoever.
"They had no money for food," said Mr Dickins.
He added that the pair had made full and frank admissions, having been apprehended still holding the stolen toilet rolls.
Sentencing each man to 4 weeks' custody for theft, Judge Curtis said: "It was quite deliberate. It was a targeted theft."
The Judge also activated each of their suspended sentences in full, to serve consecutively. This will mean McGeechan receives 14 weeks' custody and Smith receives 12 weeks' custody.
No comments:
Post a Comment