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A desperate couple who were arrested for stealing out-of-date food from supermarket bins had to send their hungry children to live with grandparents.

Paul and Kerry Barker swiped chicken wings, bread and cheese from a locked Tesco compound at night but Paul was shown mercy by a judge who asked: “How are they supposed to live?”

The couple, who have two children, said they had been reduced to theft because their benefits were cut.

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Paul, 39, said: “I was starving. We would sometimes go two or three days without food. I just could not take it any more.”

He praised the compassionate judge who gave him an absolute discharge. Kerry, 29, is due in court on Wednesday but says she has been told to expect the same sentence.

The Barkers said today they did not give their children – Mollie-Mae, 22 months, and Jayden Paul, three – any out-of-date food. But they did get shoplifted food.

Kerry said: “We were concerned with the food which was out of date that their immune system was not like ours. But we were struggling to feed ourselves.

“We got a £200 loan from a door step shark to get us through Christmas but we have to pay back £400.”

Kerry said their desperate situation was made worse by her benefits being sanctioned. She lost £60 a week in Jobseekers Allowance after missing an appointment with the Department for Work and Pensions.

Kerry said the letter about the meeting arrived late at their home in Hetton-le-Hole near Sunderland.

The sanctions meant that they were left with £94 a week to live on – £50 in Paul’s income support, plus £44 child benefit.

(Image: Andy Commins)

After rent, bills and repayments to the loan shark, they had as little as £8 a week to feed the family-of-four.

Kerry said: “I could not believe it when they stopped my benefits. It did not leave us with enough to survive.”

Since January, the couple took the decision to move the children to live with Kerry’s parents Mavis, 63, and Patrick, 65, 100 miles away in Keswick, Cumbria. Paul went to live with them for several weeks to help them settle there.

Kerry had to return to look after their home in Hetton-le-Hole where the parents want the kids to grow up.

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They can only see their children around twice a month as it is a two-hour drive for their grandparents.

Kerry said: “It was heartbreaking but we felt we had no choice. I speak to them every day on the phone and read them a bedtime story every night.

“It is a horrible situation but this was our choice. We knew they would be fed properly and looked after. Once I get my medication sorted, I’m going to get a job then bring the kids back to be with us.”

Kerry returned to the family home on Bank Holiday Monday to find the property ransacked - with burglars taking anything of any value.

(Image: Andy Commins)

Lead was taken from the roof, copper pipes stripped out, the boiler, fridge and cooker stolen along with valuables.

Their private landlord is now working hard on repairs but Kerry has been forced to rely on the kindness of neighbour and close friend Annabelle Loughlin, 22, to wash, cook and stay warm at her home, while Paul helps care for the kids in Cumbria.

“There is no water, electricity or oven to cook food,” said Kerry, who cannot stay with her parents because the Barkers want to settle back in Hetton-le-Hole again once she has found work, and want to keep on their house.

“They smashed up everything, and I will have to start again.”

(Image: Andy Commins)

The mum suffers from pancreatitis and depression which led her to leave her £21,000 a year council administrator job. Her benefits were sanctioned in December.

Paul broke his back in an accident when he was a scaffolder eight years ago but also had his benefits reduced after an assessment ruled he was fit to work.

Their foodbank said the family were only allowed one voucher a month, and over Christmas, Paul was reduced to going through the bins at Tesco.

He said he used a plank as a ladder to get over a 10ft wall at the back of the store.

Paul added: “I was desperate. I had to do something otherwise we would have had nothing to eat.

“We waited until it was dark and took food which had been thrown out... It’s not what you would call living.”

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The pair were captured on CCTV at midnight on January 5 as they swiped the food. They were arrested in March.

Kerry said she was “p***ed off” at being taken to court for stealing from bins.

Paul pleaded guilty to theft but District Judge Roger Elsey did not impose court costs and said he could not enforce a penalty because they are struggling.

The judge added: “How are they expected to live? It seems to me the appropriate punishment for taking food which is of no value is an absolute discharge.”

Paul, who has not been able to hold down a job due to his severe back injury, was dealt with at Sunderland magistrates court on Tuesday last week.

Jeanette Smith, prosecuting, said although the stolen items were to be thrown out, they were in a secure compound, adding that Tesco’s policy is not to give away discarded food.

Angus Westgarth, mitigating, said: “At the time, they hadn’t had benefits or any money since December. It seems the state has failed them. He is having to duck and dive to feed himself. He is trying to survive however he can.”

Paul, who was “banned” from the store in Hetton after a string of shoplifting convictions, told the court he previously had a drug problem but was now clean.

The court heard Kerry had a sociology degree but gave up her council job after suffering post-natal depression.

The mum, whose benefits have been reinstated, is yet to enter a plea. She has also been charged with theft.

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In a statement, Tesco said: “Working with the charity FareShare, we have already distributed over three million meals of surplus food to people in need.

“We are working on ways to make sure more surplus food is donated in this way.

“It is not safe to take food from bins and that is why we work with charities to redistribute surplus food that is safe to eat to people who need it.”

The DWP said Kerry was sanctioned for several weeks, adding: “Mrs Barker is currently in receipt of benefits.”

(Image: Andy Commins)

The Crown Prosecution Service said: “In considering the public interest in prosecuting the case we took into account previous similar offending, the safety risks in trespassing on commercial properties and the health risk in eating food not deemed fit for consumption by the company that threw it away.

“The mitigating factors in this case, and outlined in court, could not justify dropping a prosecution but could of course be reflected in the final penalty considered by the court.”

More than a million people received at least three days’ worth of emergency food from Trussell Trust foodbanks in the past 12 months.