19-year-old was ‘egged on’ by mates to steal lube from supermarket

A 19-year-old thought he could slip past supermarket security when he tried to steal a bottle of lubricant.Luke Gohn, of Filberts in Fairstead, was “egged on” by friends to steal the item, according to his solicitor.He appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday, where he admitted theft from a shop.

The court heard that the offence took place at Tesco on Lynn’s Hardwick Industrial Estate.Gohn was seen on CCTV with two of his friends hanging around the health and wellbeing section of the supermarket, where shop security were watching them.He then approached the tills and only paid for a bag of sweets. He concealed the bottle of lube on him and left without paying. In mitigation, Andrew Cogan told the court that Gohn would not have committed the offence if he had not been with his friends at the time.“I am sure he has learnt his lesson from this,” Mr Cogan said. “The pals went in together and stole the items. There were also two others who concealed items on them.“If they weren’t egging each other, he wouldn’t have contemplated going to Tesco to steal the lube. I’m not sure what he was going to do with it.”Ghon was fined £100 and ordered to pay a £40 victim surcharge and court costs of £85.