An ungrateful Darlington thief tried to steal a local charity's van just moments after it had gifted him warm winter clothing.
Lee Geldart, 50, of Peabody Street, Darlington, admitted attempted theft when he appeared in custody at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 16th January 2025.
Attempted theft is an offence contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981. As is usually the case with attempt offences, it has the same maximum sentence as the substantive offence - namely 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 7 years' custody on conviction on indictment.
Magistrates heard that Geldart, who is a frequent flyer within the Criminal Justice System, attended King's Church Foodbank in Darlington on Friday, 10th January 2025.
Being good Christian people, the food bank volunteers provided him with a warm pair of gloves and deerstalker hat.
A short time later the volunteers noticed that the engine of the charity's parked van had been started and its lights illuminated. They ran across to challenge the driver - now identified as Geldart - and extract him from the vehicle. Geldart fled from the scene, dropping the van keys on the ground.
Police were called and arrested the 50-year-old career criminal a short distance away.
Magistrates were of the opinion that Geldart's offence was so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate. They also elected to activate a suspended sentence hanging over his head.
Geldart was jailed for a total of 30 weeks (16 weeks for the attempted theft; 14 weeks consecutive for the activated suspended sentence).
Detective Inspector Claire Callaghan, from Darlington CID, said: "King's Church provide vital support to the most vulnerable in our community - to target them in this way is despicable.
"I hope Geldart uses his time in prison to reflect on his actions and their consequences.
"We'd like to thank the staff and volunteers at King’s Church for their quick-thinking actions at the scene, which ultimately stopped Geldart from being able to make off in the van."
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