Thief who stole over £740 of alcohol from Washington shops may face jail time
A thief hooked on heroin who pinched over £740 of alcohol in raids on two Washington stores three months apart could be jailed.
Scott Longstaff, 43, stole eight bottles of Smirnoff vodka - valued at £128 - from Asda’s outlet at the Galleries retail centre on Monday, February 24.
Longstaff, of Skipton Green, Harlow Green, Gateshead, returned to the same centre to steal £615 of booze from Sainsbury’s on Thursday, May 8.
In that theft, he took eight bottles of Gordon’s gin, five bottles each of Captain Morgan rum and Whitley Neill gin, and four of Maker’s Mark whisky.
His theft haul was outlined by prosecutor Emily Jo Willis during a hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.
Longstaff pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from a shop and may jailed when later sentenced.
His case was adjourned for an all-options report, which opens the way to a custodial sentence.
John Williams, defending, said: “He has a heroin dependency and has lapsed back into it.”
District Judge Zoe Passfield ordered an all-options report and granted Longstaff unconditional bail to be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, October 14.
She gave him credit for his guilty pleas and adjourned for the Probation Service to assess his suitability for a drug treatment order.