Promising Yorkshire footballer stole £30,000 of Wrigley's chewing gum to pay off drug debt

Ellis Benecke, 20, was part of three-strong gang who travelled from Yorkshire in a lorry to carry out the raid in Gloucestershire.

The thieves targeted a lorry parked up at the M5 services near Gloucester in the early hours of May 4 this year.

As the driver slept in their cab, the gang cut open the lorry’s side, removing seven of 19 pallets inside and loading them into their waiting vehicle.

They fled after another driver spotted the theft and alerted police, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

They were chased along the M5 to Cheltenham, where they left the motorway and drove the wrong way along the A40 before abandoning their lorry near a BMW dealership and fleeing on foot.

The defendant and his co-accused, Keon Sanderson, 18, were arrested soon after.

At an earlier hearing, Benecke, of Aysgarth Road, Leeds, pleaded guilty to theft and possession of cannabis.

Matthew Harbinson, defending, said Benecke had been a promising footballer as a teenager, but a potential career was wrecked after he started using cannabis and developed drug debts.

He said Benecke left school with no qualifications during the pandemic and believed he suffers from an undiagnosed learning disability.

“There must have been some way for all of the individuals involved in this criminal enterprise to know where they were going, what they were taking and its value,” he said.

“It’s a very long period of time it took to transfer £30,000 of chewing gum from one lorry to another and a significant hole cut in the side of the vehicle.

“It is inconceivable, in my submission, that my client has the ability to plan, orchestrate or play any significant role in an enterprise of that nature.

“The level of sophistication and the level of planning is far beyond my client’s capabilities. These two defendants do have the unenviable role of taking the fall for something that is way over their heads.”

The case against Sanderson, of Fieldhead Parade, Birstall, Batley, West Yorkshire, was adjourned until Thursday as his counsel was taking part in nationwide industrial action.

Recorder Richard Mawhinney imposed an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, ordered him to undertake 18 months’ supervision and 140 hours of unpaid work.

Benecke, who is jobless, was also told to complete a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement and pay £200 prosecution costs.

“I accept you had a lesser role in the whole enterprise,” the judge said.

“I take into account you have a supportive family who found this to be a complete shock and in due course paid off the debt you said you incurred.

“You incurred a drug debt and if you incur a debt through illegal activity, drug dealers are nasty people and that’s what they are going to do.

“You need to get off drugs; they are no good for anyone – you might have had a football career.”