TWO MEN who stole hundreds of pounds worth of meat from shops in Penzance have appeared before Truro magistrates.
Shaun Thomas, 47, of Chywoone Crescent, Newlyn pleaded guilty to stealing meat valued at £420 from Ian Lentern's butcher's in Chapel Street in a burglary on September 28.
Anthony Paul Stone, 35, of Treweath Road, Penzance pleaded guilty to a similar offence and a theft of £66 of meat, with another man, from Morrisons and the Co-op, on October 1.
Stone also admitted owing £90 in fines imposed in March for road traffic offences.
On September 28, Stone and Thomas were seen at the back of Lentern's butchers, in Chapel Street, trying to force a door while a third man acted as a lookout. A suspicious witness called the police.
Consequently Thomas was arrested in the doorway with boxes of meat at his feet and Stone and the other man escaped the premises through a window.
Following a chase, the men were arrested near Market Jew Street.
Penzance sergeant Flo Lincott explained: "PC Ridge saw the other two suspicious men running from the front of the butcher's shop. He chased them into Market Jew Street where he caught one. The remaining man changed direction and ran towards the Post Office. At that very moment two off-duty police officers who were on their way to work apprehended that last fleeing man and I arrested him.
"It was excellent work by the off-duty officers and my colleagues at the scene and also a big thanks to the witnesses willing to give us statements and make a stand against these thieves."
Alison May, prosecuting, said on September 19, staff in the Co-op in Queen Street, Penzance, saw a gap in the meat display, checked CCTV and saw Stone taking five packets of rump steak and putting it under his jacket before leaving without paying. Stone said he stole it to raise funds to buy heroin.
On October 1, Stone and another man, who was not in court last week, took meat from Morrisons in Penzance, putting it in a carrier bag and leaving without paying.
Solicitor Mark Charnley asked the magistrates to defer sentence, saying Stone and Thomas suffered from addiction problems, Stone with heroin and Thomas with alcohol.
The magistrates deferred sentence for four months, directing the men to address their addictions and arrange to report back to the bench.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN