A brazen shoplifter seen on CCTV shoplifting from the same Co-op 27 times in six months has been jailed.
Patrick Butler, 43, took thousands of pounds worth of goods from the shop in Bestwood, Nottingham between December and the start of this month.
Sometimes he would return and help himself to more items on the same day.
Each time, he’d walk inside, grab whatever he could get his hands on, put them in a bag then leave without paying.
After being charged with six thefts from the shop, Butler failed to attend court and went on to commit 21 more offences on the premises.
Butler has now been jailed for 12 months and issued with a criminal behaviour order banning him from entering the store for two years after police finally caught up with him.
Magistrates were told Butler tormented staff by regularly going into the shop on Beckhampton Road and strolling out with stolen items.
After being charged for stealing £210 worth of stock on March 12, he struck again on March 23, this time taking cheese and laundry products.
He went on to steal stock eight more times – between March 24 and May 2.
This was followed by three separate trips to Co-op on May 4, this time walking out with a shopping bag full of items.
Butler then made two visits on May 12 and two more the day after – filling a bag with items each time.
The thief returned to the store to steal five more times and on one occasion shoved a staff member as he left.
In total, almost £1,400 worth of stock was taken by Butler during his spree.
He would go into hiding between visits, the court heard, to elude police.
Officers finally arrested him at an address in Top Valley, Nottingham, during the early hours of Wednesday last week.
He was subsequently charged with 21 shop thefts and for failing to surrender to police.
Butler, of Bestwood Park, Nottingham, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he admitted the offences along with the six other thefts.
Sergeant Katie Taylor, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Bestwood neighbourhood policing team, said: ‘Patrick Butler has been a pest to the Bestwood community for some time now – especially those working at the local Co-op.
‘On no less than 27 separate occasions, he walked into the shop with the sole purpose of helping himself to items without ever intending to pay for them.
‘Despite our officers catching Butler and charging him with the first six thefts, he then decided not to bother showing up to court to answer for what he’d done, but went into hiding instead.
‘The arrogance he showed in continuing to target the same shop so many times was staggering, so we’re really pleased to have been able to track him down and bring him before the courts.’
Shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales rose to their highest level in 20 years last year.
More than 430,000 offences were recorded in 2023 – up by more than a third on the previous 12 months to December 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is the highest figure since current police records began in 2003.
Research published in September last year, showed Westminster was the single district with the highest number of reported thefts, heading the list with an average of 16.64 crimes per 1,000 head of population annually.
Lincoln came second, with 15.23 crimes per 1,000 head of population, followed by Hartlepool, Worthing and Nottingham.
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