A REPEAT Greggs thief has been banned after being caught red handed with mayo round his mouth by cops.
Darren Humphreys, 59, was in the middle of eating a stolen baguette when he was picked up by officers.
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The serial thief had been stealing from his local Greggs and was previously caught by officers with mayo round his mouth.
When cops caught up with him he dropped the baguette on the floor before opening his mouth to let the rest of the sandwich fall out, a court heard.
Humphreys had nabbed sausage rolls and baguettes from the bakery in Workington, Cumbria, at least six times.
Surveillance footage captured him reaching into the fridge at the store to steal baked goods and a bottle of Coke before strolling off without paying.
The court was told that Humphreys had also pushed a member of staff over earlier this month when they confronted him over his repeated thievery.
He dropped two baguettes during the struggle and made off with nothing to show for his attempted theft.
After being dragged to court Humphreys denied six charges of theft and a charge of common assault.
He was convicted at trial after five police officers and five Greggs employees were called to give evidence against him.
Humphreys was found guilty on September 10, bringing his pastry pilfering spree to an end.
He made a number of trips to the Greggs over a lengthy period of time, stealing several baguettes and sometimes pastries each time he visited.
On one of his heists he got away with four sausage rolls, coming to a total value of £3.90, before a member of the public dragged him back to the store, where thankfully the pastries were recovered.
Humphreys was known to frequent a bench near Workington Bus Station to eat his stolen goods.
One police officer told the court that she had known the thief for between 12 and 18 months.
She explained how, after receiving a description of Humphreys, she would go to the bench to discover him mid snack.
She recalled finding him on the bench surrounded by Greggs wrappers and said when he clocked her he dropped the baguette he was half way through devouring.
The Greggs bandit claimed, while he was being arrested, that he was gifted the sandwiches.
After viewing CCTV from the store officers said they had “no doubt” that Humphreys was the culprit.
Humphreys represented himself but bizarrely refused to give any evidence to the court.
He continued to deny his thefts, saying: “I have nothing to say. I’m quite happy with the court proceedings.
“I’m fully aware that I have taken nothing from Greggs.”
He has now been slapped with a Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from entering any Greggs store in Cumbria.
There is an application for £650 in costs and a total of £57 in compensation for Greggs.
Humphreys has been bailed on the condition that he does not enter any of the chain bakery’s stores, the case has been adjourned until sentencing on October 8.
Prosecutor Pamela Fee remarked that Humphreys had “quite the passion” for Greggs.
Greggs in numbers
Did you know Greggs sausage rolls have 96 layers of pastry?
The first Greggs opened in 1951 on Gosforth High Street.
There are also 2,473 shops around the country — a thousand more than McDonald’s.
Greggs is now valued at £2.6billion thanks to its budget deals.
Nearly £2 in every £100 spent in UK hospitality is done in a Greggs.
Newcastle still remains the sausage roll capital of the UK, with Geordies scoffing 17.9 million of them a year.
