A homeless man who stole £66 worth of fresh chicken from Sainsbury’s committed the dishonesty offence ‘to survive’, a court has heard.
Matthew Blanchard, 50, of no fixed abode, admitted theft from a shop when he appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court on Tuesday (1st October).
Crown Prosecutor Lauren McConnell told the court that on 14th September, at around 13:00, a member of staff at Sainsbury’s on High Street in Sandown was told by a customer that a man had left the store with a basket full of meat/poultry products.
A member of staff followed Blanchard from the store and approached him, but he made off with the foodstuffs leaving the basket in the middle of the pavement. The staff member then logged the incident.
Police on patrol in The Bay then caught up with Blanchard and detained him, finding several packets of fresh Sainsbury’s brand chicken in a rucksack. The goods were returned to the store but due to the amount of time they had been left unrefrigerated, they had to be binned.
Blanchard has a total of 10 convictions for some 32 offences.
Defending Blanchard, Jim Osborne said that his client had taken full responsibility for his actions and that he – as a man with little to no income – was simply stealing to survive.
Magistrates adjourned the case until 13th December to allow a pre-sentence report to be compiled.
Let me guess. Homeless, Mental Health, PTSD and any other he can pull from the bag.
Slap on the wrist and see you in court again next month.