Hither Green café thief Nicola Pearce spared prison

Nicola Pearce, 35, of Woodbank Road in Bromley, broke into Le Delice café on the morning of March 4 last year by smashing their glass door. 

She stole £100 of cash, a coffee grinder worth £800 and their WiFi router, a court heard. 

At the time of the break in Le Delice said on Facebook: "Very frustrating, we try very hard to make this place a happy place and some people decide to ruin it."

Pearce is a repeat offender who stole to feed her drug habit. 

On August 12 last year she stole £110 worth of petrol from Sainsbury’s in Lewisham. 

And on June 6 last year she stole number plates from a car in Bromley. 

At the time of this offending she was subject to a community order which had been made for stealing a phone from a car. 

Nicola Pearce pictured leaving court (Image: NQ)But at a previous hearing Judge Joel Bennathan KC told Pearce that if she complied with probation and did not offend again he would give her a suspended sentence. 

On Friday (May 17) he followed through with this promise, giving her a four month and two week suspended sentence including 30 hours of unpaid work. 

Judge Bennathan said: “You know what your choice is. If you continue with your no doubt difficult struggle with addiction, you could have a positive life. If you go back to drugs, you will end up in prison.” 

On the issue of whether to make Pearce pay compensation to Le Delice café, he said: “I would very much like to award compensation to the café, but I do not think you have any means and any money you made will no doubt have been spent on drugs.”