Ramaz Maisuradze, 54, and Mate Tchintcharauli, 41, were both denied bail after admitting “high value” thefts from Waitrose in Wymondham.
Both were found with multiple bottles of alcohol, razors, electric toothbrushes and other items worth £1,451 when a car they were in was stopped in Thetford.
They were identified as stealing the goods from CCTV footage at the supermarket which is just 100-metres from the county’s main police base.
Both Georgian nationals were found to be in breach of 12 month conditional discharges imposed in July and August for previous attempted shop thefts and going equipped to steal in London.
Two asylum seekers were arrested with a haul of stolen goods(Image: Newsquest)
Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told the men, who gave addresses at hotels in west London, were seeking asylum after entering the UK illegally.
Speaking through a Russian interpreter both men pleaded guilty to shop theft and admitted breaching the conditions of their previous sentences.
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Katherine Newsom, prosecuting, sought for both to be held on remand until their sentencing arguing there were “substantial concerns” they would fail to surrender and would commit further offences.
She said neither had provided permanent addresses, were subject to immigration bail and had no links to Norfolk.
Waitrose in Wymondham is overlooked by the headquarters of Norfolk police(Image: Google)
Magistrates ordered them to remain in prison until a further hearing on October 29 stating that no suggested bail conditions allay fears they would abscond or reoffend.
The court was told Tchintcharauli had arrived in the UK in November 2024 and is seeking political asylum after fleeing Georgia because of his role as an activist with the opposition party in the former Soviet state.
Both men claimed to have been in Norfolk visiting friends and that the theft had been a “spur of the moment decision”.