Thief who stole 335 Cadbury Creme Eggs from Tesco slapped with county ban and 12-month suspended sentence
26 March 2025, 19:51
A man who stole £220.50 worth of Cadbury Crème Eggs from a Peterborough fuel station has been banned from Cambridgeshire for three months, police have said.
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Deon De Groot, 26, was spotted in a Tesco Express packing up the chocolate eggs into a duffle bag before attempting to leave the store without paying.
A member of staff flagged down officers in a passing police car who tailed the thief.
They found a large number of stolen goods hidden inside his jacket. They later found the duffle bag dropped nearby filled with boxes of Crème Eggs.
He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for a year. He has also been banned from entering Cambridgeshire for the next three months, after admitting to the shoplifting operation.
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PC Guy Cunningham, who made the arrest, said: “Thanks to the quick reaction by staff who flagged us down, we were able to catch De Groot red-handed and return the stolen items to the store.”
In bodycam footage released by police, officers notice a suspicious bulge under his jacket.
They can be heard saying: “Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hands out. Hang on a sec. I’m going to put handcuffs on you, all right. You’re under arrest on suspicion of theft from a shop, all right. Because, I mean, Christ, what have you got in there?”
“Creme Eggs,” the thief responds.
De Groot does not appear to put up a fight when the officer unzips his jacked.
He simply says: “It’s all gonna fall out.”
“Christ, you’ve really loaded this up,” the officer says as he spots the stolen goods.
