Thief stole £3 worth of sausages and refusing to be put in handcuffs

A 46-year-old man appeared in court after stealing £3 worth of sausages and refusing to be put in police handcuffs.

Gary Hammond, of Hillington Square in Lynn, appeared at the town’s magistrates court where he admitted theft and restricting a constable of their duty.

The court heard from prosecutor Qamar Iqbal that on October 8 at 8.40pm, Hammond took the sausages from Millfleet off licence and left without paying.

There was a disturbance outside the store where another person was being arrested. Hammond was also arrested for the incident but refused to be placed in handcuffs.

In mitigation, George Sorrell said: “As far as the sausages were concerned, there is no argument for that, he is very sorry for doing it.

“At the time when this happened, the defendant was invited to be put in handcuffs, and he panicked because he has been attacked by a group of people recently. He thought they were present, he felt vulnerable at the time.

“He should have known that the police were there to protect him.”

Hammond was ordered to pay £3 in compensation back to the Milfleet off-licence and was handed a 12-month conditional discharge.

For obstructing an officer, he was fined £76 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30 and court costs of £55.