A would-be thief thwarted by suspicious Lake District shop staff as he tried to snatch two electric bikes valued at £11,000 has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Carlisle Crown Court heard an employee at E-Venture Bikes in Keswick received a call from an unknown person with a Liverpudlian accent asking about rentals in late 2021.
A booking was made with a name and Liverpool address given, and a TSB account used to make a deposit.
But after the suspicious worker raised concerns with his manager, the pair vowed to be vigilant and to make thorough checks.
Eloi Mergulhao, 28, and another male visited the shop at around 9am on December 20 that year. They claimed to be staying at a nearby camp site, spoke of seeking to cycle around Whinlatter and planning to store the bikes in a rented van overnight.
The bikes were rented but suspicions grew when the Mergulhao and the other male were seen soon after cycling past the shop and around a nearby supermarket car park.
After the pair got into a van, headed towards Penrith and then on to the M6 — with the manager following — police stopped the vehicle. Mergulhao, of Huskisson Street, Liverpool, was the driver and both bikes were found inside the van.
He later admitted fraud by false representation and also possession of cannabis also located in the van.
The court heard Mergulhao had hit “rock bottom“ amid personal struggles before the offending but also that he was now taking positive steps to mend his ways.
Recorder Paul Hodgkinson imposed a 12-month community order. Mergulhao must complete 100 hours’ unpaid work, a two-month, electronically monitored night time curfew and pay E-Venture Bikes £280 compensation.
“From the outset it is very clear to me you had the intention of stealing these bikes,” Recorder Hodgkinson told the defendant.
“Quite a mean offence what you did, really. In effect you relied on the trust of this shop who were lending bikes out for tourists; an important business in this part of the world. You abused that trust.”
