Prolific Telford thief given community order despite 39 convictions
A heroin addict who stole a designer handbag, perfume and bottles of alcohol in a two-week thieving spree has been spared jail.
Nicholas Smith, aged 35, stole items from several shops in Telford to sell to fund his drug habit.
His most recent set of offences started on December 2 last year, when he stole three bottles of Jack Daniels and two bottles of Absolut Vodka worth £100 from Sainsbury's at Forge Retail Park.
The following day, he took four bottles of alcohol from Tesco at Wrekin Retail Park.
Then on December 7 he returned to Sainsbury's at Forge Retail Park to steal £240 worth of alcohol. He also stole bottles of booze worth £163 from Morrison's in Wellington, and two bottles of perfume worth £156 from Boots in New Street, Wellington. At Morrison's he took a "bag for life" and filled it up with bottles, but was detained by staff.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that he told workers he would jump from a window in the staff room unless they let him go, so they released him.
On December 10, he took three bottles of spirits worth £85 from Co-op in Shifnal, and then on December 13, he stole a Valentino handbag worth £150 from House of Fraser in Telford Town Centre.
Had Smith got away with everything he tried to steal, the haul would have been worth £894, the court heard. He has racked up 39 convictions for more than 100 offences since 2003.
Smith, of Ley Brook, Leegomery, Telford, pleaded guilty to seven counts of theft and seven counts of breaching a community behaviour order.
Paul Smith, defending, said if Smith was given the chance to avoid jail he would return to live with his father initially, before joining the Yellow River drug abstinence programme.
Judge Peter Barrie gave Smith a two-year community order, which includes a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement. Smith was also given 120 hours of unpaid work and had his criminal behaviour order extended by another three years, which bans him from several shops and retail parks in Telford.
"It's a very unhappy picture over the last few years," Judge Barrie told Smith. "You have been in a cycle of repeated offending, breaking the criminal behaviour order, serving time in prison and doing it all again. You are emphatic that you want to change. There is only one person who can achieve that, and that's you."
