Sutton men convicted of carrying tools for theft

Two Sutton men have been found guilty of going equipped to steal after they were arrested with torches, gloves, penknives and other tools.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Donald Gornall, 49, of Welbeck Street, and Stefan Pietras, 36, of Tudor Street, both denied the charge but were convicted at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on April 25.

The court heard the pair were arrested at 11.40pm on December 16 last year, after they were spotted looking into cars in Asda carpark, off Priestic Road.

George Speed, prosecuting, said: “They were stopped by police and looked nervous. In interview they denied they were looking into cars.”

Gornall was found with a torch, gloves and a blue rucksack, while Pietras was carrying a torch, a drain key, a ball bearing, gloves and penknives.

The court heard Gornall has a ‘significant number of offences on his record’ and Pietras had last appeared in court in 2012 for producing a Class B drug, with other matters, relating to drugs and dishonesty, on his record.

Chris Lacey, mitigating, said they had both served the best part of three months on an electronically-monitored curfew while awaiting trial.

Magistrates gave them a two-year conditional discharge and ordered they jointly pay the court costs of £700 and a £15 victim surcharge each.

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