It’s not quite A Christmas Carol by Dickens the author, more of an unexpected Christmas gift from Dickens the shoplifter.
And now that Dickens has been brought to book, local children’s charities can expect to benefit from the confiscated profits of his thefts.
The tale begins when Melvyn Dickens, 50, of Cowfold Road, Whitehawk, was detained at the Asda superstore in Hollingbury on suspicion of shoplifting.
He was caught shortly before 9am on Monday 22 December last year after the security alarm went off at the main entrance with a large number of stolen CDs and DVDs.
He also had £4,500 cash and was arrested on suspicion of both money laundering and theft.
The next chapter came with a search of his home which revealed bin bags containing a large quantity of DVDs, CDs, clothing, jewellery and children’s toys.
And a safe in his bedroom contained a further £17,000 cash.
Dickens admitted shoplifting but he tried to muddy the story by denying that he had stolen or handled the other goods, saying that they all been bought legitimately.
He claimed that he always had a large amount of money in his possession and this represented his life savings.
He was given a police caution for the shoplifting offence but charged with two offences of money laundering over the cash seized.
Dickens denied the charges but after a four-day trial at Hove Crown Court in November he was found guilty on both counts.
On Friday 10 December he was sentenced to 12 months in prison on both counts, to run concurrently.
He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,000.
All of the goods seized were ordered to be forfeited and will be sold by Sussex Police. The proceeds will be used through the Police Property Act Fund to help support local childrens’ charities.
In addition the court made an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act that the £21,441.21 found in Dickens possession be confiscated.
Detective Inspector Chris Neilson, of the Sussex Police Economic Crime Unit, spelt out the happy ending.
He said: “This is double good news for law-abiding people.
“More than £21,000 will now be ploughed back into law enforcement and community projects.
“But equally important, we will donate the proceeds from the sale of his stolen goods, many of which were children’s toys, to worthwhile and very local causes.”
