A man faces jail time after using a stolen lorry cab to take a trailer loaded with almost 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs.
Joby Pool, whose lorry on false plates was dubbed 'the Easter Bunny' by West Mercia Police, is expected to be jailed next month after he pleaded guilty to theft and criminal damage. Magistrates sitting in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, heard how the 32-year-old used a metal grinder to break into an industrial unit on Saturday before driving off with the confectionaries worth more than £31,000.
The court also heard how Pool, from West Yorkshire, had previous convictions for a similar offence which was dealt with at Derby Crown Court in 2019. Opening the facts of the case on Tuesday, prosecutor Owen Beale told magistrates: “I don’t know if you have seen the news recently – there was a load that was stolen and on the trailer was Cadbury’s products – a large number of Creme Eggs.
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“The police were told there had been a break-in at SW Logistics. A grinder had been used to get through the gate.”
Pool used a tractor unit which had been stolen in the Yorkshire area in October to tow away the trailer, which was then driven away, eventually reaching the northbound M42.
Mr Beale said of Pool: “He gave up at junction 11 and walked towards the police with his hands up. He was arrested and the load was recovered. This clearly wasn’t spur-of-the-moment offending, if I can put it like that, because he had taken with him a tractor unit and he had to know that the load was there in the first place.
“It’s clearly a leading role and it’s clearly significant planning.”
Suggesting a sentence of two years may be the starting point for a judge when Pool is sentenced, Mr Beale told the two magistrates hearing the case: “It’s going to be well outside your powers of sentence. This is clearly an organised criminal matter. You don’t just happen to learn about a trailer with that kind of value being available.”
Pool's solicitor, John McMilla, told the hearing that Pool understood a substantial sentence was likely. He added: "He has some sheep and some horses in a paddock in the Tingley area.
“He is anxious to be able to get back to sort out the animals and make sure they are looked after.”
McMillan said of the offence itself: “He stopped the vehicle when he realised he was being followed. He realised that the game was up – he realised the police were behind him and pulled in when it was safe to do so.”
Stressing that Pool had raised his hands, Mr McMillan added: “He wasn’t offering any resistance and he was then arrested. Everything (stolen) had been recovered and that will no doubt assist the owners of the various items that have been taken.
“There has been no interference with the food products that were taken – they will be in a condition that they can go back on the shelves.”
In a series of tweets on Monday, the West Mercia force said of the offence: “The eggs-travagent theft took place on Saturday 11 February with the chocolate collection box thought to be worth around £40,000. Along with the Creme Eggs a number of other chocolate varieties were also stolen.
“Shortly after the theft a vehicle, presumably purporting to be the Easter bunny, was stopped northbound on the M42 and a man was arrested on suspicion of theft.”
Pool, of Dewsbury Road, Tingley, near Leeds, will be sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on March 14.
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