The 32-year-old surrenders to police with his hands up, a court hears.
Image source, ALAMYA man who stole 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs, causing a police panic about Easter, has been convicted in court.
Joby Pool was surrounded by a mountain of the foil-wrapped chocolate when police caught up with him at the weekend.
Recognising he was foiled too, and that “an oeuf was an oeuf”, he surrendered to officers with his hands up, prosecutors said.
There was, however, no detail in court about how chocolatey his digits were.
Pool, 32, used a stolen lorry with false plates to snatch the eggs from an industrial unit in Telford on Saturday, Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
The BBC reported on Monday how the vehicle was stopped on the M42 motorway, leading West Mercia Police to say its officers – hunting someone “presumably purporting to be the Easter bunny” – had “saved Easter”.
It was during the police operation that Pool, from West Yorkshire, raised his hands to the force in resignation things were not so much Wonka as wonky.
At court on Tuesday, Pool pleaded guilty to criminal damage and theft.
Prosecutor Owen Beale said the offence was not “spur of the moment”, and there had been “significant planning”.
Police said Pool had used a metal grinder to get through the gates of the industrial unit from where he stole other varieties of chocolate.
Pool drove away his bounty before the plan started to flake when he reached the northbound M42 where police pounced.
Mr Beale said: “He gave up at junction 11 and walked towards the police with his hands up – he was arrested and the load was recovered.”
The haul was said to be worth more than £31,000 – about £9,000 less than Monday’s police estimate.
Magistrates were told Pool had previous convictions in 2019 for similar offences including theft, handling stolen goods and driving while disqualified.
He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Shrewsbury Crown Court on 14 March for sentencing.
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