Knife-carrying Leeds shoplifter locked up

Andrew Milnes was found to have a butterfly knife, a kitchen knife and a Stanley knife blade after security staff caught him removing tags of items in Morrisons on Harehills Lane.

Leeds Crown Court was told that the 55-year-old was seen entering the store at about 7.45pm on January 8, 2021.

He went to the meat area where he placed two £10 steaks in his bag, before going to the alcohol aisle and used a powerful magnet to remove the tags from two large bottles of brandy and gin, before also placing them in his bag.

The alarm was triggered after he forgot to remove the tags from the meat, so he was stopped and challenged by security who found the items and the butterfly knife.

The kitchen knife was then found in his coat pocket.

There was a brief disturbance as he tried to run outside and get on his pushbike and it took several members of staff to detain him, prosecutor David Hewitt told the court.

A further search located the single Stanley knife blade.

During interview, he gave no comments to police.

Milnes, whose last address was registered as Shakespeare Grange, Burmantofts, has a long criminal history with more than 44 thefts and four bladed article convictions.

He has served several prison terms in recent years, including eight years for the burglary and five years for drug dealing.

For the Morrisons incident he eventually admitted a charge of theft and possession of weapons.

Mitigating, Timothy Jacobs said: “The weapons were not used in an aggressive way.

"He was running away rather than producing weapons. They were not intended to be used in an aggressive or violent way.”

Milnes claimed weapons were to be used to help maintain his bike.

Judge Simon Phillips QC jailed him for 22 weeks and said: “You have an extensive record over the past 40 years.

“In recent years you have offended on a regular basis, and you have admitted this offending very late in the day.”