A suspected thief sprayed a can of insect repellent into a Tesco security guard’s face. Li Chean attacked the member of staff during a crime spree which also saw him jump out of an upstairs window of a mobile phone shop, having been locked inside the premises when he was caught stealing.
Police officers then happened across him in the street as they were investigating yet another of his offences and arrested him. He missed the birth of his twins as a result.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Wednesday, that one of his victims, Sephin Xavier, received a notification on his mobile phone on the morning of May 30 this year alerting him to his bank card being declined at J&R News on Green Lane in Tuebrook. He then noticed that a bag of his belongings had gone missing from inside his home, also on Green Lane, with CCTV enquiries later revealing that Chean had been responsible for the unsuccessful attempted purchase.
Suzanne Payne, prosecuting, described how the 33-year-old, of Gardner Road, then attended Mobile Tech on West Derby Road at around 7pm on July 9 requesting a refund for a phone he said he had bought from the store. But when employee Hammad Hameed examined the device and identified the fault, he “became angry and demanded his money back”.
Chean thereafter made his way behind the shop counter and attempted to take another mobile from a display case, damaging it in the process. He also pushed the worker and “shouted and screamed” at him as he tried to halt the theft.
Mr Hameed was able to lock the front door however, after which the defendant took the staff member’s own phone and ran upstairs to a storage room. Chean was then seen climbing out of a window in order to escape before fleeing the scene.
He would strike again at an address on Ellel Grove on July 21, stealing items worth £970 after entering through the kitchen window with his hood up and wearing a pair of gloves. A pillowcase filled with food which had been taken from the property’s communal fridge was subsequently discovered nearby.
Then, on August 12, Chean was challenged by security guard William Smith at the West Derby branch of Tesco Express on Queens Drive after being seen placing goods into his bag. The two men thereafter tussled over his rucksack, with the worker being shoved into an aisle during the struggle.
As he left the store, the suspected shoplifter discharged a can of fly spray into his face. Chean then warned “I’ll be waiting for you” as he ran away.
His offending would continue in the early hours of September 2, when he was caught on a Ring doorbell camera breaking into a Vauxhall Corsa belonging to Maria Savvidou on Rossett Street. He stole a set of house keys from her car before using them in an unsuccessful attempt to gain entry to her home.
When police officers attended the address two days later in order to view the footage, they by chance spotted Chean walking towards them and recognised him from the video. When arrested, he was found in possession of an ID card belonging to Kevin Sterling – an item which had earlier been taken from the Evri driver’s wallet in his van as he was collecting parcels from Tuebrook News.
Chean has a total of 20 previous convictions for 30 offences, most recently receiving a community order in July this year for two counts of theft. His criminal record also shows entries for burglary and possession of class A drugs with intent to supply in 2016.
Gareth Roberts, defending, told the court: “This is a series of mean offences, during which Mr Chean has caused a large number of people a great deal of distress, inconvenience and fear. That is not lost upon him. He is sorry for everything he has been charged with.
“The sad irony is that Mr Chean is not typical of those who come before the courts charged with this type of offending. This is at odds with the way this man presents himself.
“Sadly, he has for most of his adult life fought a battle against class A drugs. In recent years, he has seen his life unravel spectacularly as a result of losing that battle.
“His academic record is excellent. He obtained multiple qualifications at school and after school, including specialist qualifications in welding and engineering. He has, at times, held excellent jobs in welding offshore on oil rigs and wind turbines.
“Sadly, his increased usage of cocaine became vice like in its grip. Heroin and crack cocaine have seen him lose his job and put his relationships with his partner and family under massive strain. They have begged him to get help.
“He was homeless, living on the streets and spending his time under the influence of class A drugs or attempting to acquire them. He committed these offences having totally failed to rid his life of drugs.
“He is sorry for the distress and inconvenience he has caused his victims. He recognises that what he did was wrong. He has taken the first steps to rehabilitate himself.
“He is now drug free. He has been on remand since the 5th of September. He has detoxed. For him to remain drug free for six weeks is a positive step in a particular direction.
“He has also sought help for his ADHD. It may well be that that condition has been a factor in his inability to cope with certain situations and rid himself of drugs.
“He is already in the process of securing work on his release. Due to his skills, there is not a shortage of job opportunities for him offshore. He would hope to be able to obtain one pretty quickly.
“He has reconciled with his parents. More significantly for him, he has become a father for the first time – his partner giving birth to twins on the 4th of October.
“He desperately wants to be a father to them, but he must stay clear of drugs. It may be that the fact he is now a father will give him the motivation and stability he needs.”
Chean admitted two counts of burglary, attempted burglary, assault, criminal damage, theft from a motor vehicle, fraud and handling stolen goods. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for two years and five months and handed restraining orders preventing him from contacting the complainants for five years.
Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: “I accept that you are undoubtedly someone with intelligence and ability. I hope you will, in the future, once again be able to put those attributes to good use, as you have done previously in your working life. You now, of course, have family responsibilities in the shape of two small children. I hope very much that you can turn things around.” Of the assault, the judge added: “It was actually very vicious. You are lucky that it was charged at the level it was charged at.”
Source – Liverpool Echo
