By MATT STRUDWICK, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:21 BST, 8 October 2025 | Updated: 18:37 BST, 8 October 2025
The runaway thief who was stopped by the actor who played PC Reg Hollis in The Bill has today been jailed. Actor Jeff Stewart foiled shoplifter Mohamed Diallo's attempts to escape on July 23 when he sat on his legs after the criminal fell from his bike in Southampton, Hampshire. Diallo, 29, had raided £314 worth of coffee and alcohol from convenience stores and supermarkets in the city during a theft spree between May and July this year. He was today jailed for 20 weeks after being convicted of seven offences of theft. At Southampton Magistrates' Court, prosecutor Adam Doyle said that Diallo of Anglesea Road, Southampton, 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 called him '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,' he said. The Bill actor Jeff Stewart (pictured) was seen on police bodycam footage helping officers capture shoplifter Mohamed Diallo Diallo (pictured) - from Southampton - raided £314 worth of coffee and alcohol from convenience stores and supermarkets in the city during a theft spree between May and July this year'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.'Mr Stewart, who starred in more than 900 episodes of the hit ITV drama from its inception in 1984 until he left in 2008, sprinted across to assist police with the shoplifter, helping to sit on his legs as officers arrest him.As an officer turns to the Scottish actor to thank him, Mr Stewart, 69, is heard saying in response: 'Well, I was in The Bill for 24 years'. 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. While Diallo initially manages to get on his bike, he eventually falls off, with officers quickly tackling him to the ground in a car park as he desperately tried to escape their grip Mr Stewart starred in more than 900 episodes of the hit ITV drama from its inception in 1984 until he left in 2008'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.'
