A police officer commandeered a teenager’s bicycle to chase a steak thief in South Shields in early June.
Police received reports of a man acting aggressively at a supermarket on Stanhope Road on 7 June. Multiple teams were deployed to track down a man who had stolen several packets of steak.
A pursuing firearms officer borrowed an onlooking teenager’s bike to catch up with Phillip Padgett, 32, of no fixed abode.
The officer handcuffed Padgett and returned the boy’s bike.
Padgett was charged in connection with more than 30 reports of shoplifting with a total value of almost £6,000.
He pleaded guilty at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court to the thefts and was sentenced to 40 weeks’ imprisonment.
