HOMELESS animals benefitted after two women pleaded guilty to stealing large quantities of meat from a motorway service station.
Karen Briggs, 48, of Hamilton Avenue, Cobham, and Linda Coulston, 51, of Rowland Way, Ashford, were arrested on June 24 after police discovered large quantities of Marks & Spencer meat and fish, bottles of flavoured Starbucks sauce and meat from Cobham Motorway Services.
Neither was able to produce a receipt and both were charged.
At Guildford Magistrates' Court on June 26, Briggs pleaded guilty to seven counts of theft and was sentence to 8 weeks in prison, while Coulston pleaded guilty to theft and was given a community order requiring her to be under a curfew and be electronically monitored for four months.
She was also issued with a Supervision Requirement for 12 months and ordered to pay compensation.
But their crime did benefit animals at Battersea Dogs and Cats home after police donated the stolen meat and fish to the charity.
Surrey Police Property Manager Charlotte Deamer said: "Although the food was from a well-known shop on the high street it isn't our policy to donate anything for human consumption in these situations as there is no guarantee of its quality by the time it's in police hands.
"However, rather than see such a large quantity of good quality food go to waste we spotted an opportunity for it to go to a worthy cause."
Rebecca Norris, senior rehomer, from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in Old Windsor, said: "We are very grateful for the donation and we have been able to use most of the food.
"So far, the cats have enjoyed meals of prawns and smoke salmon whilst the dogs have enjoyed the steak. The rest of the meat selection will be cooked up for future feasts."
