A COUPLE who had a stolen bike belonging to a disabled girl in their house have been spared prison.

Steven Henley, 33, and Davina Copeland, 36, admitted handling the cycle belonging to Tilly Lockey when they appeared before Consett Magistrates’ Court today (Tuesday, November 11).

The pink bike had been specially adapted for the nine-year-old, who lost her hands after suffering from meningitis as a baby.

Vicky Wilson, prosecuting, said: “Officers had received information in relation to the handling of the bike.

"They went into the house and the officers found Davina Copeland. They searched and found a pink bicycle matching the description of a bicycle stolen from a garage nearby. Officers found Steven Henley hiding behind a wardrobe.”

Three bikes belonging to Tilly and her two sisters, Tia, ten, and Lucy-Anna, six, had been taken when a family garage in Blackhill was broken into in September.

The couple, of Ritsons Road, Blackhill, Consett, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods and resisting arrest, on September 17.

Dave Malone, mitigating, said: “They live in the Blackhill area and found a pedal cycle in a back street.

“They should have left it. They put it in a cupboard in their house.

“Both of them are appalled that it belonged to Tilly Lockey. They were not aware. They did not realise it had been specially adapted. They are devastated.”

The court was told Henley and Copeland are former heroin users who have been clean since January.

They were sentenced to 12 weeks custody, suspended for a year with a supervision order.

In a statement read out to the court, the girls’ mother, Sarah Lockey said: “It is horrible to think that someone has been through your personal belongings and taken something that means nothing to them but everything to your child.

“Tilly, my disabled daughter, has fond memories of that bike because it is the first one that she could ride with her sisters.

“Even after seeing my children upset on television they were still not going to give it back.

“It is disgusting. How can you steal from a disabled child and not give it back?

“All they had to do was leave it in the street and drive off. I am sad more than anything.”

After the hearing both defendants hid their faces, but Henley bared his backside to the photographer for The Northern Echo.