A COUPLE were caught trying to steal £250 of goods from a South Tyneside supermarket.
Stewart Hodgson and Nicola Tams were stopped by security guards from Asda in Boldon Colliery as they tried to load up a car with a trolley full of items on February 21.
Staff thought the pair were acting suspiciously and followed them on CCTV.
Hodgson, 50, and Tams, 35, pleaded guilty to theft at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.
Stan Sudworth, prosecuting, said: “It was 4.15pm when security officers in Asda saw the pair on CCTV.
“Hodgson was pushing a trolley full of goods and Tams was in front. They went upstairs and past the checkouts before leaving.”
Mr Sudworth told the court that by that point security staff were following them and stopped them at a car in the car park.
He added: “The police were called and all of the goods were returned to the store”
Jeffrey Taylor, defending Tams, said: “She was not pushing the trolley, though she helped load the goods into it. As such, she was party to the theft.”
Tams, of Avondale Rise, Byker, was jailed for three weeks.
Chairman of the bench Ian Alexander said: “Your record is quite extensive and there is a repetition of dishonesty and theft convictions.”
Hodgson, of Regent Terrace, Sunderland, was given a community order for two months with a curfew between 7pm and 7am every day.
He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.