Whittlesey man spared prison after multiple thefts from Co-op
A man from Whittlesey has avoided a prison sentence after carrying out a series of burglaries from a branch of the Co-Op in the town.
Darren Bezdek (57) of Eastgate Court, Whittlesey pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary from the Co-Op Food store on Blunt’s Lane, Whittlesey across January and February 2026.
Bedzek was charged with burglary after entering the store as a trespasser due to the fact he was already subject to a banning order from the store, which was issued in December 2024.
The court was told that Bezdek was fully aware of the order but continued to enter the store and that staff were aware and afraid of him due to previous violent incidents.
The first offence took place on January 13 and saw Bedzek take a family beef joint valued at £17.53. He followed this up with by taking a 12-pack of Madri on February 15, valued at £14, Chardonnay valued at £6 on February 18 and two packs of steak worth £10 on February 24.
In total, the items taken were valued at £47.53 and were for personal consumption.
At the time of the offences, Bezdek was also serving a suspended sentence, which was handed out on March 7, 2025. The sentence was a 12-week sentence, suspended for 18 months.
In his defence, duty solicitor Claire Thornley appealed to the magistrates to avoid imposing a custodial sentence, citing his progress from rough sleeping into moving into his first address in 25 years.
She told the court that: “He recognises that he has let himself down and recognises that he has reverted back to known offending behaviour because of difficulties in his personal life.
"We are not talking about someone who steals things to sell on, and he agrees with me that is it very silly and stupid offending, especially with the suspended sentence hanging over him.”
When handing down the sentence, magistrate Mr Brown told Bezdek that he was “very much in the last chance saloon” but he had decided not to activate the suspended sentence order given the progress he had made with his housing and getting his life back on track.
Instead, the suspended sentence order was extended for a further six months.
He was sentenced for eight weeks in prison in total (two weeks for each offence) for the four burglary offences but that sentence was suspended for 12 months.
He added: “If you get convicted of another offence in those 12 months, be in no doubt that you will go into custody.”
Bezdek was also ordered to pay £47.53 in compensation to the Co-Op.