'He's still got it': The Bill actor arrests thief who gets prison sentence for shoplifting
When a popular but dopey TV cop become a real life hero it ended with a prison sentence taking a ‘persistent’ thief off the streets.
The man who played TV copper PC Reg Hollis stepped into action when he saw the thief trying to make his escape - and has now seen the criminal been jailed for 20 weeks.
Actor Jeff Stewart, who played PC Hollis for 24 years in ITV series The Bill, jumped into action after Mohamed Diallo fell from his bike as he attempted to flee after stealing items from a shop in Southampton, Hampshire.
The TV star sat on the 29-year-old’s legs while police officers handcuffed him on July 23.
Diallo, of Anglesea Road, Southampton, was convicted of seven offences of theft from supermarkets and convenience stores in the Hampshire city between May and July this year.
At Southampton Magistrates’ Court, prosecutor Adam Doyle said that Diallo had stolen coffee and alcohol worth a total of about £314 during the series of thefts.
He added that the defendant had 13 previous convictions for a total of 48 offences including 41 of theft.
Barry Keel, defending, said that Diallo had been receiving treatment for alcohol and drug addiction while on remand for the offences and added that he hoped to “break the cycle” of re-offending.
Sentencing Diallo, magistrate Alan Foster told him: “You are a persistent thief with a record that is unenviable.
“Whatever help we have tried to give you since you have been sentenced before and currently, you have turned it down and you have carried on stealing from shops to allow your habit of hard drugs to continue.
“We can find nothing that shows remorse on your part, you keep falling back into your way of life when even offered many opportunities that others take.
“(You are a) persistent offender over a period of time, you do not engage with services offered, you continue to be a blight on small local shopkeepers.
“As such you pass the custodial threshold.”
Following the arrest in July, a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said: “In policing you should always expect the unexpected, but this really wasn’t on The Bill for this week.
“Officers making an arrest in Southampton were aided by none other than TV’s PC Reg Hollis during an incident on Wednesday July 23.
“The officers, from Bargate Neighbourhoods Policing Team, were in the city in the afternoon when they were alerted by staff at Co-op in Ocean Way to a suspected shoplifter, who attempted to make good his escape on a bicycle.
“The thief, 29-year-old Mohamed Diallo, fell off the bike during his attempts to flee, before officers pounced to make their arrest.
“To their surprise, local TV legend Jeff Stewart, who played PC Hollis for 24 years in The Bill, came to their aid by sitting on the suspect’s legs while officers put him in cuffs.
“Long since retired from Sun Hill station – but he’s still got it.”