A man who was caught with the stolen funeral flowers of popular dad Andrew Corfield is being hunted by police after he failed to appear at court.
Jonathan George Gregory failed to show up for sentencing today at Teesside Magistrates’ Court after he previously admitted handling a stolen flower arrangement meant for the funeral of Andrew Corfield.
Gregory was due to appear at court at 2pm to be sentenced for the offence which involved the “Pops” flower arrangement from Mr Corfield’s granddaughter.
But a warrant was issued for his arrest by prosecutor Robert Moore after the court heard there was no sign of Gregory at 3.15pm. The warrant was not contested by Danielle Wild, defending.
Back on February 9, Teesside Magistrate’s Court heard that the flowers meant for Andrew Corfield’s funeral were stolen from outside Middlesbrough’s Alstro’s Florists on November 30 last year, just hours before the 39-year-old’s funeral.
Alan Davison, prosecuting, told the court that Gregory and his friend had spotted the flowers but that he had told his acquaintance not to touch them.
Ian Cooper 
Funeral of Andrew Corfield held at Teesside Crematorium. Andrew died in a car crash in Hemlington.
But the 39-year-old claimed that he later found them inside his Jubilee Street home and handed them back - adding his head was “all over the place” at the time.
However the court was told how florist, Darren Hunter, had already started making inquiries in the area and had been directed to the defendants address where he spotted them through a window.
Peter Harris, defending, said his client “made some admissions in interview” and “is a gentleman who has had a number of issues.”
“The flowers were only out of the owners hands for a short period of time,” he added. “It didn’t cause any issues for the funeral.”
Mr Corfield died just seconds after leaving his Hemlington home on October 28.
He and his 17-year-old daughter Alice, who is in hospital, were travelling in a car when they were involved in a crash at the junction of Fordyce Road and Cass House Road.
His untimely death has left his loved ones and many friends heartbroken - with hundreds of mourners turning out to bid him an emotional farewell.
Speaking to the Gazette previously, Darren Hunter, said he was “disgusted” at what had happened at his Kings Road, North Ormesby, shop.
“I just can’t believe someone would do it,” said Darren, 48, who had to repair some damage on the arrangement before the funeral.
“I didn’t tell the family what had happened until after the funeral because I didn’t want to cause even more upset,” he added.
“They were disgusted and rightly so.
“People can’t go about doing this kind of thing.”
Gregory pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods, breaching a community order and failing to answer bail.
Elaine Whitehead, chairwoman of the bench told the court that she was “not happy” to deal with the case then and there and adjourned sentencing to allow for a report to be prepared by the probation service.
Teenager Jake McCabe was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in December for causing the crash which killed Mr Corfield.
McCabe, 18, pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, handling stolen goods and driving while not licensed or insured.
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