Two people from Corby have been sentenced for theft offences after the local community people identified the duo on Facebook after an appeal was posted by the staff of a local convenience store.
Over Christmas, police arrested two accused Eleanor Hunter and Robert Mort on suspicion of three shoplifting offences including two from the BP garage in Uppingham in Rutland county.
The arrest happened after the staff of Budgens store on the Uppingham crossroads posted a video of the pair stealing alcohol bottles. The shop stocks a range of gin, cider and beer by small local producers which was among the items allegedly taken in the raid.
The video was widely shared on Facebook after which people in nearby Corby were able to identify the offenders.
Mort appeared before magistrates in Leicester on Dec 31 and admitted the charges. He was given a 14 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Hunter also appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Dec 28 where she also admitted the charges. She was given 16 weeks in prison.
Hunter and Mort are charged with the theft of a range of items including gammon, steak and meat from Budgens on Dec 16, as well as multiple kinder biscuits, Christmas gingerbread houses, Christmas sweets gifts and chocolate biscuits worth hundreds from the BP Garage in Harborough on Dec 14 and 15.
Both have long and chequered histories of shoplifting and other crimes. After a shoplifting spree last year Mort was locked up while in 2022, Hunter was banned from the BP Fourways garage after targeting the crime-ridden shop 18 times in a short period.
At that time, the garage was Corby’s most-targeted crime spot and was accused of "fuelling a crime-wave".
