Chef claims press coverage worse than jail sentence

CELEBRITY chef Antony Worrall Thompson said he would rather have gone to prison than endure the public fallout following his arrest for shoplifting.

The Ready Steady Cook star said he felt he had been put in the “modern day stocks” by some elements of the press, but had been overwhelmed by messages of support from thousands of well wishers.

The former I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! contestant was cautioned by police after he was caught stealing from a Tesco store in Oxfordshire while using a self-scanning till last Friday.