Thieves used child's pram to steal £400 of items from Nike store at Crown Point Centre in Leeds
He was subject to a 12-month suspended sentence at the time
A pair of thieves used their child’s pram to steal almost £400 worth of items from a shopping centre in Leeds.
Steven Kelly and his partner Megan Schofield twice entered the Nike store at Crown Point Shopping Centre before exiting with items worth up to £394 hidden in their child’s pram, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Robert Galley told the court how Kelly, of Ramshead Hill, Seacroft, was subject to a 12-month suspended sentence for possession with intent to supply class B drugs at the time of the offences.
The court heard how in the first instance they stole a pair of trainers and a children’s tracksuit, with a value of £134 from the store, before returning less than a week later and stealing five items of children’s clothing and shoes worth £259.
Mr Galley detailed how in a previous incident 45-year-old Kelly, while accompanied by Schofield and their two children, stole the phone of a drunk man who had fallen asleep on a bus.
The iPhone 15, worth over £799, was later sold and was never recovered, the court heard.
Kelly, who has 15 convictions from 38 previous offences, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from a shop and one count theft of the phone.
Schofield was previously handed a 12-month community order after pleading guilty to her part in the offences, the court heard.
Offering mitigation on behalf of Kelly, defence counsel Craig Sutcliffe said his client had long suffered from drug abuse and that prior to his drug conviction in 2024 had gone a “substantial period of time” without offending.
He added that the defendant had completed 140 hours of the unpaid work ordered as part of his suspended sentence and as such argued that it would be “unjust” to activate it.
Passing sentence, the judge, Recorder Taryn Turner, told Kelly that he had “breached the trust” of the court with acts of “deliberate dishonesty.”
She sentenced him to 12 weeks in prison for the theft offences and activated six months of his suspended term - to run consecutively.