by A 52-year-old man has been fined after admitting stealing luggage from a mother while she was breastfeeding her daughter at the airport.
John Brooks, 52, of Brighton Road, Crawley, pleaded guilty to stealing a suitcase and a child’s backpack from Gatwick Airport on October 30, 2025.
He also admitted causing £88.30 worth of damage to property by breaking a security barrier with his head while escaping with his luggage.
On Tuesday, Brooks appeared at Crawley Magistrates Court wearing an orange coat under a black waistcoat and confirmed his name, date of birth and address.
After entering his plea, he learned of the impact on his victim before being fined £388.30 by the magistrates court.
The mother-of-two went to the baby care room in Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal to breastfeed her younger daughter.
“Due to the layout of the room it was not possible for her to take her stroller and luggage outside the room, so she left it just outside the door,” said Amy Fraser, prosecuting.
The court heard that Brooks, who appeared drunk, then arrived and stood next to her luggage cart outside the toilets for a “short period” before taking it and driving away.
Ms Fraser said: “He goes through the taxi area and then down to the exit of the car park… he ducks to go under the barrier but it doesn’t move so he moves the barrier with his head which then bends and breaks.”
Prosecutors called it an “opportunistic crime” and said the luggage was later recovered and returned.
In a victim impact statement, the mother said she now felt “unsafe” in public and her eight-year-old older daughter had become anxious.
“What happened changed the way we feel in public spaces, the way we travel and the way my daughter sees the world around her,” she said.
Brooks has 37 previous convictions for 72 offences, 42 of which are related to theft.
He will pay the victim £300 compensation and £88.30 for the safety barrier.
