Stolen goods store at pub

An "Aladdins Cave" of stolen goods was discovered at a Kidderminster pub which had been converted into a makeshift shop to sell them off.

An upstairs lounge of the Castle Inn in Park Lane was converted to store items, still in their original packing, which could be sold at cut prices, a court was told.

Police were alerted after a suspected shoplifter was traced to the Castle Inn last November.

Officers found goods worth £8,283 laid out on a sofa and tables upstairs.

Mr Charles Hardy, prosecuting at Worcester Crown Court, told how items ranging from toiletry and spirits to clothes and food were found from such stores as M&S, B&Q, Next and Sainsburys.

The licensee, 46-year-old Carol Wilkes, and her partner, Anthony Smith, 53, both admitted conspiracy to acquire criminal property.

Wilkes, who also admitted possessing criminal property, was jailed for a year, Smith for nine months.

Wilkes' daughter, 26-year-old Stacey McGrath, and her partner, Christopher Guest, 29, both of Park Lane, were each given a 12-month community order and told to do 150 hours unpaid work.

McGrath pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge while Guest admitted possessing criminal property. More stolen goods were found at their home.

Miss Emma Rutherford, defending, said all four defendants were of good character. Wilkes had gone bankrupt and lost her business. She was the carer for her 23-year-old son and also had a daughter of 15.

Smith was ashamed of his part but emphasised that there had been no stealing to order. McGrath only realised at a late stage that items from the pub were stolen.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said he appreciated that Wilkes and Smith had not made a great deal of money but an aggravating feature was that thieves knew where they could offload goods.