Shoplifter avoids jail after pleading with magistrates that prison would stop him appearing on Jeremy Kyle Show
Dean Grundell, 44, of Huddersfield, West Yorks, was let off with just a suspended sentence despite having 63 thefts to his name
A SERIAL shoplifter has been spared prison after telling judges he wanted to go on the Jeremy Kyle Show.
Dean Grundell, 44, of Dalton, Huddersfield, West Yorks, admitted stealing from several shops in the area after being caught bang to rights on CCTV.
And he confessed to stealing another £45-worth of booze from another branch of the supermarket the previous week, on December 29.
But Grundell, who tested positive for cocaine and heroin, was let off with an 18-week suspended sentence after telling judges prison would disrupt his plans to feature on The Jeremy Kyle Show.
His defence lawyer Jonathan Slawinski told Kirklees magistrates’ court: “He wants to go on the programme so that he can be taken to a rehabilitation unit.
“He’s in the process of going through the motions and it’s genuine.
“The show producers at ITV have confirmed to me that he has applied for help.”
Slawinski said his client had been addicted to Class A drugs for 25 years and had suffered an “appalling” infection to his legs.
He told magistrates: “He’s in a real mess and wants to go to rehab.
“The show producers are speaking to family members and Mr Grundell and he’s being processed for consideration.
“That shows how desperate he is to go into rehab.”
As well as his suspended sentence, Grundell was banned from entering any of the shops he targeted as part of a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order.
He is now barred from entering any Sainsbury’s, TK Maxx or Marks and Spencer stores in south Kirklees.
And he was told he cannot remain in any shop in the area if staff ask him to leave.
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