Cheese Thief and Robber Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison

Richard Gary Jenkinson, 39, from Montrose Street in Darlington has been sentenced to 2 years in prison at Teesside Crown Court after entering a guilty plea for robbery and theft charges.

In July 2022, Jenkinson stole several blocks of cheese from Sainsbury’s on Westbury Street in Thornaby.

He then approached a woman’s address in Thornaby and demanded that she bought the cheese from him.

When the victim aged 68 refused, Jenkinson assaulted her, barged into her home and stole her purse containing £380 (her pension money) and her bank cards and bus pass.

Investigating officer, DC Niamh Birdsall from Stockton CID said: “The victim was understandably shaken and extremely frightened after suffering this ordeal. No one should be attacked in their own home and the actions of Jenkinson on this day are unforgiveable.

“We managed to locate Jenkinson by watching Stockton Borough Council’s CCTV. He is not from our area and is not a well-known to our Force, however, thanks to our colleagues at the council, we managed to locate him. Without the CCTV it would have been very difficult to trace him.

“Jenkinson rightly deserves to pay for his actions by being behind bars. We hope the sentence provides some form of comfort to the victim.”

Ann Workman, Director of Adults and Health at Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, added: added: “Our CCTV operators and Enforcement Officers work very closely with the police to keep people in Stockton-on-Tees safe and I’m very pleased that their efforts have helped to secure Jenkinson’s sentence.

“As well as the store theft, this must have been a terrifying ordeal for the victim which nobody should have to experience. We are determined to prevent those responsible for such behaviour from making people’s lives a misery and our surveillance centre operates 24/7 to ensure those who commit crime in our communities are brought to justice.”