Thief knocked back booze in shop he raided
ALCOHOLIC DOWNED BEER IN FRONT OF STAFF
A THIEF sat and necked four cans of lager and a bottle of wine inside the shop he had just stolen them from.
Brazen Mark Kindley had earlier helped himself to booze from the Co-op in Bedlington Station, Northumberland, but returned just a few hours later to steal some more.
A court heard the 36-year-old picked up three cans of Stella and a bottle of wine from the shelves – then sat down in an aisle and drank them in front of staff.
Alcoholic Kindley, of Coomassie Road in Blyth, made no attempt to pay for the alcohol he had drank and was arrested after police were called to the store.
It also emerged that in the weeks previously Kindley, who has 37 offences on his record, had been arrested twice for being drunk and disorderly.
South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court was told on one of those occasions Kindley was abusive and aggressive outside an address in Ashington, while on another he refused to leave a Go North East bus service and threatened to steal the bus.
He was arrested after both of those incidents.
Kindley, on a suspended sentence at the time, pleaded guilty to two counts of being drunk and disorderly and two shop thefts.
His case was adjourned for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. He appeared back in the same court this week to learn his fate.
Rehana Haque, prosecuting, said the two drunk and disorderly offences happened on February 6 and February 11. Less than two weeks later, on February 22, Kindley committed the shop thefts.
Ms Haque continued: “The defendant stole a crate of Budweiser at around 14.20 but returned at 19.35 on the same day and took two bottles of wine and four cans of lager. He sat in the store and drank three of the cans and one of the bottles of wine. He was still in the store when police arrived.”
Graham Crouth, defending, said Kindley had a long-standing problem with alcohol addiction and had been homeless for a number of months.
Mr Crouth continued: “He was quite clearly going to be caught for the theft offences if he stopped and sat in the shop he had been stealing from and drank the alcohol he had stolen.
“There have been significant challenges in his life and in his accommodation. Things are a lot more stable now.”
Magistrates ordered Kindley to pay £332.70 in fines, costs and compensation.