A Birmingham HMO tenant who had not committed a crime for years resorted to shoplifting after being evicted, a court has heard. Darren Shale, 52, stole several blocks of cheese, salmon fillets, and a jigsaw sander from the Aldi on Pershore Road, where he was known due to previous incidents.
Shale, of Middleton Hall Road, Birmingham, took items worth over £200 before being stopped as he tried to leave the store on May 5 this year. During the week of the offence, Shale had been evicted from his HMO along with other tenants and was unable to access methadone as a result, Birmingham Magistrates' Court heard.
Shale, who has 43 convictions for 83 offences, could not obtain the medication because he no longer had an address. His last crime had been in 2024.
Mitigation and Background
Mitigating, his solicitor Mr Ball told the court: 'I have had the pleasure of representing Mr Shale more times than I care to remember. We are on unfamiliar ground here because there has been a marked deceleration in frequency.'
'The address he was living at for many years, effectively he and others living there were essentially evicted. It is a problem with HMO tenancies. They are very easy to get people in, but also very easy to get them out.'
'Because he has been under Change Grow Live (CGL) because there was a change of address, he couldn't get his methadone. Unfortunately there was a break for a week. He tried his best to deal with it. This was a one off, simply because of the break in his address. Luckily, he has now managed to get another address.'
A total of 59 of his 83 offences were theft, the court heard.
Prosecution and Sentencing
Prosecuting, Ms Begum said: 'This matter is very straight forward. The defendant went into Aldi on Pershore Road, where he was known due to previous shoplifting incidents at the store. He placed into his bag 19 cathedral city cheese blocks, seven red salmon and a jigsaw sander with a 20v battery and charger belonging to Aldi Supermarket to the total value of £207.68.'
'The defendant has attempted to leave the store. He was stopped by store staff. He was taken into the back room where the items were emptied.'
At his sentencing, Shale was ordered to pay a total of £197 as the magistrates warned of a collection order.
