De Gea, John Terry’s mum, Glen Johnson and more football thieves!
According to The Sun newspaper, Man United goalkeeper David De Gea was caught walking out of Tesco scoffing a Krispy Kreme doughnut he hadn't paid for. The Spanish stopper may be on mega bucks at Old Trafford but, as history proves, this hasn't always prevented footballers from helping themselves to someone else's property...
Glen Johnson: TOILET SEAT
Back in 2007, England's first choice right-back was handed an £80 on-the-spot-fine after police were called to a B&Q store in Dartford because he and fellow pro Ben May were caught trying to nick a toilet seat. "No one could quite believe a bloke like him, with all that money, would be moronic enough to nick a toilet seat," said one worker. And we couldn't put it better ourselves. The Liverpool defender saw it differently and told the Daily Mail: "I was with a mate who was doing up his bathroom and he wanted to buy a set where you get everything together. I'd never bought a bathroom like that in my life, and neither had he, so we banged it on the trolley.
"But we took out the toilet seat and got another one that had a slow-close lid so it wouldn't trap his kid's fingers. What we didn't know was that it was £2.35 more than the one that should have been in the box. Then we went through the till, my mate paid for it and then this security guy stopped us and said he had been watching us on CCTV and seen us swapping the toilet seats."
John Terry'S MUM: DOG FOOD
Her son earns more than £20,000 a day, but that didn't stop Sue Terry attempting to travel home with £800 worth of stolen shopping from Tesco and Marks & Spencer in 2009. Among the items was a bag of Pedigree Chum dog food and, together with the Chelsea captain's mother-in-law, was arrested and cautioned. Perhaps they thought that John needed a new suit, unaware that M&S provide the entire England team with their gear.
BRADLEY WRIGHT PHILLIPS AND Nathan Dyer: FAGS, CASH AND PHONES
In 2008, Southampton pair Bradley Wright-Phillips and Nathan Dyer were charged with the theft of cash totalling £85 as well as cigarettes, mobile phones and bank cards from a staffroom at a Southsea nightclub. "He disgraced himself and the family," said Ian Wright, Bradley's father. However, the charges against him were dropped after his lawyer successfully argued that while CCTV images showed him in the staffroom, they did not capture him carrying out any crime. Dyer, though, pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 60 hours of community service and ordered to pay £392.50 in compensation.
WARREN BARTON AND ROB LEE: LIMOUSINE
In 2007, the former Newcastle team-mates thought it would be clever to nick a luxury limo after a drunken night out in London. Police found the Mercedes E220, which they'd smashed into a van, on the same road they'd taken it from. A Sat nav system was also reportedly swiped from the vehicle, presumably so the legless fools could work out how to get home. They were later arrested but nothing came of it as the owner of the vehicle decided to not press charges.
JOHN TERRY: Wayne Bridge'S MISSUS
JT was exposed as a love cheat by the News of the World in January 2010 after allegedly stealing former team-mate Wayne Bridge's missus, Vanessa Perroncel. A month after the story broke, the pair met as Chelsea hosted Man City in the Premier League and Bridge refused to shake Terry's hand. We don't blame him either - who knows where else they've been?
BNEI SAKHNIN: DUTY FREE ITEMS
Six players from Israeli side Bnei Sakhnin were arrested as they prepared to board a flight to Spain for an Intertoto Cup game against Deportivo in 2008. Abed Rabbah, Khaled Khalaila, Mosa Sha'ban, Alaa Abu Saleh, and Mahmud Kannadli were all allowed to board their flight after they finally admitted to pinching thousands of pounds worth of perfume in a duty free store. Their attitude really stinks, if you ask us.