A THIEF on the run from Newcastle mounted a wholesale shoplifting raid on Tesco in Clifton Moor, York magistrates heard.

They ordered Jason Paul Downs, 40, to go back to his Tyneside home and stay there indoors every night until after the New Year.

Colette Dixon, prosecuting, said Downs and an accomplice wheeled two trolleys out of the superstore on September 1 without paying for them.

One had groceries worth £1,167.88 in it, the other had groceries worth £295.10 in it.

When they were challenged in the car park, they ran off leaving the trolleys behind but were caught by police.

At the time, Downs was wanted on warrant signed by Northumberland magistrates.

He should have appeared before the northern court on June 14 to be sentenced for stealing items worth £1,028 from B and Q in Wallsend on March 16.

Ms Dixon said on that occasion he had piled the goods in a trolley and wheeled it past the tills without paying for them.

He was stopped in the car park.

Downs, of Sunnyway, Blakelaw, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to both thefts and failure to attend court. He has a long criminal record.

York magistrates dealt with him for all offences.

They gave Downs a 12-month community order with a 19-week nightly curfew from 7pm to 7am and 31 rehabilitative activities. They also ordered him to pay a £95 statutory surcharge.

For him, Craig Robertson, said he got his dates mixed up in Northumberland.

He had attended the next day and then waited for the warrant to be executed.

Downs lived on Universal Credit.

Magistrates read a report prepared by a probation officer in Newcastle before passing sentence.