Brighton man sentenced for stealing cigarettes while manager of Tesco store

A Brighton man stole cigarettes worth more than £1,300 while working as the manager of a Tesco store near Liverpool.

Philip Relf, 50, who has returned to Brighton since his arrest, admitted theft when he appeared at Wirral Magistrates’ Court last week.

The court ordered Relf to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £145.

He stole two boxes of cigarettes from the Tesco Express in Borough Road, Birkenhead, on Friday 31 January.

But his partner Wendy Dennis contacted Tesco area manager Stephen Potter to say that she believed that the cigarettes had been stolen.

Mr Potter checked CCTV footage and stock records before contacting the police.

They went to Relf’s home in Calder Road, Bebington, where Ms Dennis showed officers the stolen packets. They then went to Relf’s store and arrested him.

The court was told that Relf was in financial difficulty because he had children to support from a previous relationship in Brighton.

He has moved back to Brighton and is working locally in a garden centre while he tries to sell his home in Merseyside.