Drug addict Lee Brookes ‘sneaked onto Sheffield buses to steal and shoplifted £1,000 from Marks and Spencer’

A drug addict sneaked onto buses in Sheffield while the drivers took a break to steal cash from drivers, a court heard.
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Lee Brookes, of Dover Court Road, near City Road Cemetery, also shoplifted thousands of pounds worth of goods from Sheffield city centre shops, Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard.

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Brookes, aged 43, stole from Stagecoach buses three times last year, said Rob Coyne, prosecuting.

Drug addict Lee Brookes ‘sneaked onto Sheffield buses to steal and shoplifted £1000 from Marks and Spencer’, heard a court. File picture shows a Stagecoch bus in SheffieldDrug addict Lee Brookes ‘sneaked onto Sheffield buses to steal and shoplifted £1000 from Marks and Spencer’, heard a court. File picture shows a Stagecoch bus in Sheffield
Drug addict Lee Brookes ‘sneaked onto Sheffield buses to steal and shoplifted £1000 from Marks and Spencer’, heard a court. File picture shows a Stagecoch bus in Sheffield
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He said: “The drivers were stopped off for a comfort break. During that time, he pushed the emergency door button to get to the driver’s cab and steal money from them.”

In total, he took just over £62 from the buses, he added.

But Mr Coyne also outlined how Brookes had targeted three Sheffield stores when shoplifting – stealing goods worth £1,088 from Marks and Spencer, £100 from Sainsbury’s, and £140 from Mountain Warehouse.

Brookes initially appeared in court in September last year, when he was given a community order to give him a chance to rebuild his life and give up drugs.

But the court heard he had failed to engage with the probation service, attending only three of 23 appointments.

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He also breached a condition banning him from entering Mountain Warehouse.

In mitigation, James Fox-McGowan said Brookes had suffered heroin addiction for a number of years and had come through a period of homelessness and was willing to engage with the court.

He said he was taking steps to get off heroin and wanted another chance. He said he had managed to stay out of crime between 2011 and 2021, and asked for a suspended sentence, saying Brookes wanted to set up home with his partner.

Jailing him for a total of 32 weeks, district judge Tim Spruce told Brookes he had been on the verge of jailing him last year for the shoplifting charges and the thefts from Stagecoach but gave him a chance – but there had been no compliance with his community order.

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He said there was no evidence he was motivated to stop taking drugs. He said some of the thefts appeared to be targeting high value items he could sell to buy drugs to put into his body.

He said: “There are shops closing every single day – businesses going out of business. Shops in Sheffield are being emptied as we speak. This is about you not doing what you were asked to do.

"There may come a time when you’re motivated to do this, but it’s not today.”

Brookes had admitted the shoplifting charges at a previous hearing, and he was jailed for 18 weeks concurrently for each.

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He had also admitted the theft from the buses, and was jailed for six weeks running consecutively for those. And he was jailed for another eight weeks, also running consecutively, for the breach of the community order.

The court also ordered him to repay £62.20 to Stagecoach, £140 to Mountain Warehouse, £100 to Sainsbury’s and £500 to Marks and Spencer. He was told he had a year to pay in full.