Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Thief with ‘penchant’ for breaking into Aldi back in court – for breaking into Aldi

Stephen Leader has a history of targeting the budget supermarket chain, with his local Aldi in Cornhill his preferred choice when it comes to crime.

Stephen Leader. Image: Facebook
Stephen Leader. Image: Facebook

A serial thief with a “penchant” for breaking into Aldi stores has appeared back in court – for breaking into Aldi yet again.

Stephen Leader has a history of targeting the budget supermarket chain, with his local Aldi in Cornhill, his preferred choice when it comes to crime.

The 27-year-old last appeared in court for an Aldi break-in as recently as the end of July when he was handed a 48-day prison term.

And now, he’s been hit with a longer nine-month sentence after admitting yet another supermarket raid.

‘He was within the store for less than five minutes in total’

Leader helped himself to almost £300 of alcohol before quickly being traced at his home nearby – surrounded by the stolen drink and Aldi bags.

Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court an Aldi employee who happened to live nearby noticed the lights were on and the rear door open at 12.09am on June 25.

Two minutes later, police received a call advising that an intruder alarm had been activated at the Cornhill shop.

It took the police just eight minutes to arrive, but Leader had already gone.

Officers, along with the neighbouring employee, reviewed CCTV which showed Leader “overcoming the security” at the back door to gain entry.

Ms Simpson told the court: “The footage showed the accused making his way through the warehouse and onto the shop floor, where he picked up two baskets and walked to the alcohol aisle.

“The accused was wearing a hooded top with the hood up, however, his face was visible.

“The accused filled both baskets with various bottles of alcohol and he exited the locus through the insecure rear door.

‘Obviously doomed to fail’

“He was within the store for less than five minutes in total.”

The employee immediately recognised Leader and told officers, who wasted no time in obtaining a warrant and heading round to his house.

There they found the clothing Leader had been wearing during the break-in, as well as the stolen bottle of alcohol.

The total cost of the drink stolen from Aldi was £275.44.

Leader, of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to theft by housebreaking and two charges of breaching bail conditions.

Defence agent Mike Monro said: “During April, May and June of this year, if items had been removed from Aldi, but not through the front door, it was fairly likely Stephen Leader was the person who had taken them.”

The solicitor said Leader’s “pathetic” attempt at a successful heist was “obviously doomed to fail because it was in front of a CCTV camera”.

He added: “He filled some baskets or bags with the Aldi logo on them, took them to his property and he’s sitting in the property with the alcohol and Aldi bags around him when the police attend.”

Mr Monro said the painter and decorator had a “bad alcohol problem” at the time.

Speaking at a previous hearing for a similar case, Mr Monro admitted: “Mr Leader has a penchant for breaking into Aldi in Cornhill.”

Sheriff Graham Buchanan ordered Leader to be jailed for nine months.

For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.