A thief who stole a hard-working nurses car was caught after using the nurses’ stolen card to buy himself a brand new widescreen TV.
Anthony Parkin is now behind bars after taking the stolen white Nissan Qashqai on a ‘joy ride’ before deciding to stop off at a Sainsbury’s store in Sunderland.
But the morally corrupt thief’s spending spree was soon halted after a member of staff at the stores Argos kiosk spotted that the card being used by Parkin was registered to a woman.
Parkin tried to waffle his way out of the situation by telling the staff member that the card belonged to his girlfriend.
But unconvinced by the thief’s story, the retail assistant kept hold of the card and told Parkin that only the person named on the card could collect it with appropriate identification.
Security staff then followed Parkin, using CCTV cameras, as he scurried back to the car that he had stolen from the nurse.
The information, including the registration of the stolen vehice, was relayed back to police control room staff, who sent several police units to the area.
It was not long before officers caught up with Parkin, and he was taken into police custody.
Parkin, of Ernwill Avenue, Sunderland, admitted a string of offences including theft of a motor vehicle and fraud by false representation when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court last week.
He was subsequently sentenced to 14 months in jail.
Detective Sergeant Chris Raper-Smith, of Northumbria Police, said:
“Anthony Parkin is somebody who is well-known to police and has consistently shown a total disregard for the law.
“In the end, his greed got the better of him on this occasion – and after stealing a victim’s car in the dead of night, he also found her bank card and decided to reward himself for his criminal exploits.
“Unfortunately for him, the shop worker at Argos spotted the name on the card and suspected he was up to no good. I’d like to thank the employee for trusting her instincts and doing the right thing.
“Her intervention, along with some excellent work by the detectives who worked on the case, has ensured that Parkin must now serve a custodial sentence and face the consequences of his selfish actions.
“We will never tire of putting burglars and thieves before the courts, and will continue to do all we can to ensure those who bring misery to others are taken off our streets.”
In a statement prepared for court, the nurse whose car and bank card that Parkin stole admitted she was left feeling “sick” by what happened.
Parkin admitted theft of a motor vehicle, fraud by false representation, theft, having no insurance and driving otherwise in accordance with a licence when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court last Thursday (March 4), but was acquitted of burglary.
He also pleaded guilty to separate charges of fraud by false representation, theft from a motor vehicle and four further counts of theft.
Stay up-to-date with more news from the front line by subscribing to our free newsletter. Subscribe by clicking HERE (you do not have to serve in the emergency services to subscribe).
If you have the Google News app on your phone, don’t forget to follow ‘Emergency Services News’.
Got a story? Send your videos and pictures to contact@emergency-services.news You can also find us on Twitter @ES_News_
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
