HGV driver with council tax debts stole from same Tesco five times in fortnight
A LORRY driver who has aspirations to be a firefighter stole trolley loads of goods from a Derbyshire supermarket five times in just two weeks.
Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court heard Scott Jewes had run into council tax arrears of thousands of pounds.
So the 34-year-old father-of-two parked up at Tesco in Ilkeston while delivering to the town during August and took the goods.
Handing him an 18-month conditional discharge, magistrate Maggie Tate said: “We have listened very carefully to what has been said and you have obviously got yourself into a great deal of financial problems.
“Whatever you did was a one-off and you have got no previous convictions.”
Peter Bettany, prosecuting, said throughout last month the defendant was delivering to an Ilkeston firm on behalf of an oil company.
He said on five occasions – August 9, 13, 18, 19 and 24 – Jewes parked his HGV in the car park of the Rutland Street supermarket and entered with a trolley and left having failed to pay on four occasions until he was caught the final time.
Mr Bettany said during those shoplifting trips the defendant stole a total of £550.30 of goods.
He said: “The defendant was stopped on the last occasion with the goods in the trolley and he was linked to the other offences through CCTV.
“When interviewed he expressed remorse and said what he did was completely out of character.
“He has nothing in terms of drink, drugs, or gambling problems and he offered no explanation (to the police) as to why he was doing it.”
Jewes, of Cheviots Road, Shaw, Oldham, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft.
Nick Wright, mitigating, said his client was furloughed at the start of lockdown and again in January of this year, has two children and a wife who works as a teaching assistant.
He said: “Due to Covid he went into council tax arrears of £3,000 to £4,000 and it all got too much for him. He has lost his good character, is part-way through joining the fire service so has lost that chance and the day after he was arrested he passed his class one HGV test. As of last week, he was living at his mother’s because of the domestic disharmony caused by this.”
As well as the conditional discharge, Jewes was ordered to pay £537.94 compensation to Tesco and £85 prosecution costs.