MATTHEWS:MASKED LOOTER ‘WENT TO TESCO TO GET SOME NAPPIES.’

A masked looter accused of joining thieves ransacking a branch of Tesco claimed he had only entered he store to get some nappies for his baby, a court heard today (Weds).

Jason Matthews was arrested as he tried to flee from police at the branch on East Dulwich Road, East Dulwich, where more than £100,000 of damage was caused on Monday night.

Officers are said to have grappled with the 35-year-old, whose face was covered by a bandana, amongst broken glass and pools of pasta sauce from smashed jars.

Matthews, who is also alleged to have been in possession of cannabis at the time, had to be hit with a baton during the scuffle, Tower Bridge Magistrates’ Court heard.

During the chaos, looters are said to have stolen £30,000 of cigarettes, £7,000 of spirits and £2,000 from tills, while trashing fixtures throughout the shop.

Robert Davis, prosecuting, said that following Matthews’ arrest he told officers he was ‘not one of the bad ones’.

‘The officers got it wrong,’ he said.

‘I needed to get pampers for my baby.’

District Judge Timothy Stone remanded him in custody, saying there were ‘substantial grounds’ to believe he would rejoin the anarchic scenes if release.

Matthews, of (14) Monarch Mews, Streatham, has yet to enter a plea to the charges.

A 16-year-old girl appeared before the same court charged with burgling Primark on Rye Lane, Peckham, south London.

The girl, from Brockley, southeast London, has been released on bail on condition that she be electronically-tagged and observe a 7pm to 6am curfew.

Judge Stone told her: ‘You make sure you abide by those conditions and you keep out of trouble.’
Her grandmother, a nurse at Lewisham Hospital, sat alongside her in court.

A total of 19 defendants are due to appear before the court, with most admitting having been inside the smashed-up shops but denying having stolen anything.
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