Persistent Hartlepool thief locked up for carrying knives after being caught on CCTV in raid at Tesco petrol station

Daniel Hanley, 32, was given a chance by the courts when he was given conditional discharges and community orders for a number of offences including shoplifting, stealing copper piping and being found in possession of a screwdriver and Stanley knife in August 2018.

But he went on to breach those orders when he raided a compressed air machine containing coins at Hartlepool’s Tesco Extra garage at around midnight on October 3 last year when he was again armed with a knife.

Hanley was jailed for a total of 29 weeks when he was sentenced for all the offences at Teesside Crown Court.

It included 21 weeks under the law where criminals caught carrying knives more than once are automatically jailed.

Describing the raid at the Tesco garage Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, said: “Just before midnight the defendant arrived at the forecourt.

“He has a bag on his back, takes out tools and starts attacking a coin box on a compressor air machine to inflate tyres.”

But the incident was caught on camera as it was happening and operators called the police who arrested Hanley.

Mr Soppitt added: “They see tools, gloves and damage to the coin box. There is coins scattered around.

“Amongst the tools there is a knife.”

Judge Howard Crowson said it appeared Hanley used knives as tools while trying to steal but said they were still dangerous to carry.

He said: “Unfortunately even if knives are used as tools they have a dual purpose and can cause harm so Parliament has decided people have to go to prison if they keep doing it.”

The court heard Hanley, of Alderwood Close, Hartlepool, had an extensive record of 80 previous offences including dishonesty, violence, driving, and possession of drugs.

Laurie Scott, mitigating for Hanley, who has spent three months in Durham Prison on remand, said he had spent almost five months on a tagged curfew under the community orders and has now come off all drugs he was using.