One of Tyneside's most prolific thieves caught trying to break into Aldi with axe
by Sara Nichol · ChronicleLiveOne of Tyneside's most prolific thieves has been jailed after she was caught in the act using an axe to break into an Aldi store.
Patricia Office, a regular in the court dock, was given a suspended sentence for stealing back in August and had already breached it once by committing further theft offences. And the 38-year-old proved she just can't stay out of trouble after her latest crime spree saw her making-off with goods from three shops and trying to break into a branch of Aldi.
The career crook, of Bridge Road South, in North Shields, was spotted by a nearby resident using an axe to smash a window of the Forest Hall branch of the supermarket and the police were called. Office was then caught in the act by constables, Newcastle Magistrates' Court was told.
She was arrested and appeared in the dock in custody less than 48 hours later, where she pleaded guilty to three shops thefts, attempted burglary and possession of offensive weapon. The pleas also put her in breach the suspended sentence and she was jailed for a total of 43 weeks.
Prosecutor, Rehana Haque, said Office first stole £63-worth of washing-up products from The Range, in Benton, on September 14, then stole twice from the same Forest Hall branch of Heron Foods on September 20 and October 15, making off with a total of £90-worth of wine, butter and meat.
It was then on November 5 that Office tried to break into Aldi. Ms Haque continued: "The witness was asleep but looked out her window, which overlooks Aldi, after she heard a noise and she could see a dark figure. She heard smashing and contacted 999.
"Police arrived and arrested the figure, who was this defendant. The officers had also witnessed the defendant strike a window of the Aldi store with an axe."
The court heard that Office had an appalling 144 offences on her record and had not been attending appointments with the Probation Service, which she was required to do under the suspended sentence. Mark Styles, defending, said: "She's had an extreme amount to deal with in recent months.
"In the last three months, she was a victim of an extremely serious criminal offence and the person responsible has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentence. He's been remanded in custody."
Join our WhatsApp communities
ChronicleLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our communities.
We have a number of communities to join, so you can choose which one you want to be part of and we'll send you the latest news direct to your phone. You could even join them all!
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
Join the ChronicleLive Breaking News and Top Stories community
Join our Court & Crime community
Join the Things to do in Newcastle and the North East community
Join our Northumberland community
Join our County Durham community
Join our Great North Run community