Thief who flouted city centre court order jailed

A thief who flouted a court order banning him from setting foot in Sunderland city centre faces spending the rest of 2024 behind bars.

Grant Gettins is beginning a seven-month jail term after ignoring a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) which forbids him from entering the city centre.

The two-year order, which was issued in February, was handed down as a final opportunity for the 39-year-old to clean up his act after committing more than 50 offences spanning three decades.

But Gettins, of Tatham Street, Sunderland, did not heed the advice and has now been handed a stronger sentence after twice being found to have breached the terms of his CBO.

He was spotted by officers inside the city’s TK Maxx store on June 13 as well as on Blandford Street one week later, on June 20.

He was duly arrested and the following day, on Friday (June 21), he was jailed for 34 weeks at South Tyneside Magistrates Court.

Sergeant Dave Catton, of Northumbria Police, helps lead the Sunderland Altogether Improving Lives (SAIL) partnership which sees police work with the council, businesses and other partners to combat city centre crime.

He said: “This is an excellent result with Gettins now facing the foreseeable future behind bars because of his flagrant behaviour.

“He has had every opportunity to clean up his act and his CBO is a way for us to manage his offending, with the support of the city centre businesses who’ve often been the victim of his unlawful behaviour.

“However, despite knowing he was banned, over the last fortnight Gettins has twice broken the law by entering the city centre and I am pleased that the severity of his offending has been recognised with this custodial sentence.

“We will not tolerate city centre crime and CBOs are just one of a number of tactics we can use to manage prolific offenders and curb their offending, whilst empowering the courts to hand out greater sentences should the conditions be breached.

“I would like to thank the businesses, members of the public and our criminal justice partners as we all work together to ensure Sunderland remains a safe place to live, work and visit.”

Gettins’ CBO, which runs until February 2026, forbids him from entering specified areas of the city centre or remain on any shop or commercial premises if asked to leave by staff.