Sunderland camper van raider stole media player, Foster's lager and gin during lockdown

Malcolm Pyke, 43, of Tanfield Road, Thorney Close, Sunderland, made the remark moments after being reprimanded by her.

District Judge Kathryn Meek told him to pay his victim £300 compensation for the theft in Sunderland of a CD/DVD player, £20 of gin and £10 of Foster’s lager – and for causing £150 of damage.

Pyke must also do 80 hours of unpaid work as part of an 18-month community order for further trying to steal goods from an outlet of retailer Lidl in Sunderland.

He admitted theft in relation to the vehicle attack, on April 24, and to handling stolen goods from Lidl, on Monday May 11, when he appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard he carried out the offences after temporarily losing his job as a conservatory fitter, which is set to resume on Monday, due to the coronavirus lockdown, and had been crime-free for almost three years.

In a victim impact statement, read to the court by prosecutor Glenda Beck, the vehicle’s owner said: “I’m disgusted by what this male has done.

“We are meant to be in lockdown but he’s out causing crime. This has really upset my wife and I.”

And the manager of the Lidl outlet, also in a statement, said: “We’re sick and tired of people coming into the store and stealing goods.”

Joanne Gatens, defending, said: “He did it to feed himself and to pay his utility bills.

“He had been employed doing building work. He was awaiting Universal Credit.

“One of the things that he needs to take credit for is that he was on opium-based drugs for 20 years but is now clean.”

District Judge Meek told Pyke it was to his credit he had recently stayed free of crime but that the coronavirus crisis was not an excuse to offend.

The court heard Pyke is currently on bail for an alleged burglary for which he will be tried at Newcastle Crown in May 2021.