CRIMINAL damage charges against Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole have been dropped after he agreed to pay for a car-wrecking spree.
The 23-year-old, who was accused of vandalising five cars in Stowell Street, Newcastle, last December, has accepted a conditional caution and agreed to foot the bill for the damage, which runs into thousands of pounds.
Cattermole was due to face five counts of criminal damage at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court, and the case was adjourned again last week until May 1.
Today, however, the Crown Prosecution Service North East revealed that the charges have been dropped after Cattermole admitted his guilt.
He accepted a conditional caution, and agreed to reimburse the five car owners whose vehicles he damaged.
By agreeing to the caution, Cattermole has been made to accept his guilt and reimburse all those left out of pocket by his actions.
Clare Donaldson, Head of CPS North East’s Magistrates’ Court Unit, said: “Through the action taken, we have ensured that all the victims in this case have been swiftly reimbursed for the damage caused by Cattermole’s irresponsible actions.
“By accepting the conditional caution at this stage, he has also accepted his guilt in relation to all five vehicles - something that may have taken significantly longer for us to prove in court.”
The Crown Prosecution Service works in accordance with a set of core quality standards - 12 principles outlining the level of service the public can expect from prosecutors.
The third of those standards states it will “use out-of-court disposals as alternatives to prosecution, where appropriate, to gain speedy reparation for victims and to rehabilitate or punish offenders”.
Ms Donaldson added: “While a prosecution was initially considered in this case, the appropriate use of a conditional caution has ensured reparations have been made, not only swiftly, but also on a scale that may have otherwise been difficult to ensure.”
Cattermole, from Aislaby near Yarm, on Teesside, was accused alongside Sunderland’s Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner, but the case against the on-loan Arsenal man was dropped three weeks ago.