A MAN stole meat from a supermarket to pay for transport to his mother’s funeral, Barnsley Magistrates Court was told.
On September 3 at noon, Scott Rowley, 44, went to Iceland in the Alhambra. He was seen entering the store with a large multicoloured bag.
The court was told how Rowley, of Fleming Place, Barnsley, walked towards a cooler that stored meat and proceeded to fill his basket with eight meat products.
He then walked to another isle, where he placed the meat products into the bag and returned the basket before leaving the store.
His actions were observed by the store manager who followed him out and alerted the Alhambra security team, who escorted Rowley back to Iceland and the police were called.
The goods, valued at £37.50, were returned to the supermarket and Rowley was arrested. He admitted to taking the items.
The court heard that Rowley’s mum had died and her funeral was being held in Doncaster on September 4, but he did not have the funds to attend.
He intended to sell the meat on to raise money for transport.
Rowley, who has previous convictions for theft spanning over three years, is in receipt of employment support allowance as he suffers with epilepsy which prevents him from working and his defence argued that it was the circumstances which led him to behave the way he did, and his last offence was committed over 18 months ago.
They further stated that the store had not suffered a detrimental loss as the goods were returned to the store the same day.
The judge said although they sympathised over why he committed the crime, there was still a degree of planning.
Rowley was sentenced to to a six week curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am, and fined £175.
