Jobless immigrants admit charity clothing bank raids

Nerijus Gelezunas, 32, and Nerijus Jovaisa, 25, of Leeds, drove around three supermarkets in Harrogate, breaking into clothing containers using an electric drill, chainsaw, chisel and a hammer, and stealing the clothes inside.

Sam Rogers, prosecuting, told Harrogate Magistrates' Court the pair were spotted wearing high-visibility jackets and breaking into the bins by passers-by in Harrogate earlier this week.

Officers arrested them shortly afterwards and discovered several bags of used clothes in the back of their van.

The men claimed they were legitimately collecting the clothing in good faith.

Clive Farnon, for Gelezunas, said his client, who had come to the UK about six months ago – leaving his partner and child in Lithuania – had been unable to find work and saw the job of collecting clothes from charity bins on an employment website.

Mr Farnon said: "Gelezunas says he realised just about from the outset that something wasn't quite right.

"He was also given some tools and told he might need them to open the various containers where these goods were.

"He was also given a number of postcodes where the various sites were."

Jovaisa, who was representing himself, spoke only to tell the court he was sorry after magistrates heard he had a string of previous convictions for theft in this country.

Both defendants, who spoke little English and had to use an interpreter, admitted theft of clothing, being equipped for crime, and attempting to steal clothing in Harrogate.

The pair were sentenced to 12-month community orders and told they must do 100 hours unpaid work each with supervision. Both were also ordered to pay 85 court costs.

Jovaisa, a jobless builder, was remanded into custody after failing to appear before Leeds Crown Court for being drunk and disorderly last October, but Gelezunas walked free.

Chairman of the bench Graham Saunders said: "The clothes which you collected or attempted to collect had been given by local people to support a charity and you were going to deprive those charities of that money."