Shameful mum took children to help steal parcels from Leeds apartments
She used kids to “provide cover”
A mum took her young children with her to avoid suspicion while she stole parcels and letters from a Leeds apartment complex.
The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, was also with her partner who had even bought himself a parcel company T-shirt to make him look authentic.
The 29-year-old woman was given a community order at Leeds Crown Court this week after the judge warned her that if she continued, her children would be take into care.
Her partner failed to show up to court for sentencing and a warrant was put out for his arrest.
Prosecutor Thomas Harris said that she had first entered the garden path of a property on Avenue Crescent in Chapeltown at around 3pm on January 13.
She picked up a parcel left on the doorstep and walked away. It was the owner’s gift he had ordered to his daughter and was worth £21.
On January 24, the couple targeted an apartment complex on Clarendon Road at Woodhouse Moor. She had her two young children with her.
The building was only accessible by a fob, so she waited until a person left and crept inside before the door closed.
She went to the fourth floor and sifted through residents’ mail left outside their doors. She was seen putting letters in her jacket pocket.
She then went to the post room on the first floor, grabbed a large parcel and left. It contained a university gown and cap worth £422.
Finally, on February 2, they targeted another building on Spinners Yard. This time she was the lookout for the male who was wearing his red DPD T-shirt.
He put parcels in a bag and they left.
She admitted two non-dwelling burglaries and a theft.
No mitigation was offered, although a probation officer suggested the woman claimed she had found some of the parcels.
Judge Richard Mansell KC rejected it as “nonsense” and said she was just “digging a hole for herself”.
He told her: “If you commit offences like this you’re going to lose your children.
“These were planned offences of theft, let’s not make any bones about it.
“You took your two children with you to provide cover. You knew full well what you were doing.”
He gave her a 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation days to complete.