Court warned criminal would be 'eaten alive' in jail after being found with goods taken from Northern Gas Networks van

An man caught with stolen goods has avoided a prison term after a court heard he would be “eaten alive” in jail.

Geoffrey Adey, 54, was described by his own solicitor as “not very intelligent and not very clever” – and the bullied victim of hardened criminals.

Police found a jack hammer and welding kit – stolen along with a Northern Gas Networks van – inside Adey’s home in Sheriffs Moore Avenue, Easington Lane, on Wednesday, November 16.

The goods had been deposited for safekeeping by a coercive neighbourhood criminal, magistrates in South Tyneside were told.

In a separate offence, they also heard Adey had blatantly refused to work with the Probation Service on a court-imposed community order.

For that, they rowed back from handing him an immediate prison term, instead jailing him for 12 weeks but suspending the sentence for a year.

Prosecutor Gurjot Kaur said: “The victim is a gas service team supervisor for Northern Gas Networks.

“He parked-up but his van was stolen, and so were the tools that were inside.

“Police officers had cause to attend an address in Easington Lane, and were let in by the occupant.

“During a search, they found industrial style tools on the floor.

“They had safety stickers, indicating they were from a business rather than bought from a shop. They were identified as being those from the van.”

Adey, who has 17 previous convictions from 22 offences, pleaded guilty to charges of breaching a community order and receiving stolen goods.

Robin Ford, defending, said Adey lived in an area rife with criminality and had been given little choice but to accept possession of the items.

He added: “He’s a patsy to others. We’re dealing with a gentleman who has not had a great education or who has a great understanding of how life pans out.

“The items were not found in the back of a truck or in a shed, it was someone dropping them off and telling him to look after them.”

Mr Ford said Adey had not fully appreciated the seriousness of abiding by the terms of the community order and had preferred to bury his head in the sand.

For the community order breach, Adey must also abide by a three-month 7pm to 7am electronically monitored curfew.

Magistrates fined him £108 for the stolen goods offence, with £100 costs and a £43 victim surcharge.