A brazen shoplifter caught on CCTV stealing from the same Co-op store 27 times in six months has been jailed.
Patrick Butler, 43, stole thousands of pounds worth of goods from the Bestwood, Nottingham store between December and early June. On some days, he would return to steal more items later the same day.
Butler would simply walk in, grab items, place them in a bag, and leave without paying. After being charged with six thefts from the shop, Butler failed to appear in court and went on to commit 21 additional offences at the same store.
Butler has now been sentenced to 12 months in jail and given a criminal behaviour order banning him from entering the store for two years. Magistrates were told how Butler tormented staff by frequently walking into the shop on Beckhampton Road and leaving with stolen items.
After being charged for stealing £210 worth of stock on March 12, he struck again on March 23, stealing cheese and laundry products. He continued to steal eight more times between March 24 and May 2.
On May 4, he made three separate trips to the Co-op, each time leaving with a shopping bag full of items. Butler returned on May 12 and again the following day, each time filling a bag with stolen goods.
He went back to the store five more times, once shoving a staff member as he left. In total, Butler stole nearly £1,400 worth of stock during his spree. He would go into hiding between visits to evade police. Officers finally arrested him at an address in Top Valley, Nottingham, during the early hours of last Wednesday.
He was subsequently charged with 21 shop thefts and failing to surrender to police. Butler, of Bestwood Park, Nottingham, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he admitted to 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.’
