Hungry Greggs thief faces possible jail after being caught by undercover cops
A hard-up and hungry thief found the strong arm of the law to be close at hand when he entered a Greggs store in Sunderland to pinch food, a court heard.
Unbeknown to Stephen Leach, 36, undercover police were in the queue when he struck at the city centre Union Street branch.
They set off in hot pursuit after hearing a man shout, “Are you going to pay for that?” – and seeing Leach, of St Luke’s Road, Ford Estate, vanish out the door.
After a quick foot pursuit on Monday, March 2, the undercover police officers apprehended him and recovered the £30 of food, prosecutor Jade Houston said.
Leach committed the offence out of desperation due to having no access to money and being hungry, magistrates in South Tyneside were told.
But he was also subject to a suspended jail sentence for another matter, imposed by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court in 2024.
He may now find himself in more hot water after magistrates told him they had no choice but to refer his new theft offence to the higher court.
It means a judge will examine the details and decide if it is serious enough to activate the suspended sentence – and possibly jail him.
Ms Houston said: “Officers in plain clothes were in this Greggs branch in Sunderland.
“Their attention was drawn to a male in the store who had said, ‘Are you going to pay for that?’
“The defendant ran from the shop and the officers gave chase and he was stopped.
“He has 32 previous convictions from 59 offences, including 17 for theft matters.
“He was last before a court in February last year for a theft, for which he was given a six-month conditional discharge.”
Leach pleaded guilty to a single count of theft from a shop.
Tom Morgan, defending, said: “The defendant had some temporary housing difficulties and part and parcel of that was difficulty accessing finances.
“What’s followed is that he has committed a low-value theft of £30 because he needed to eat.
“I would say that given the value of it, it’s really at the bottom of offences which this court deals with, never mind the crown court.”
Magistrates fined Leach £80, and £85 court costs and a £32 victim surcharge