Prolific Peterborough shoplifter jailed after repeated thefts and stolen car offence
Peterborough man sentenced after CCTV footage linked him to shoplifting offences and the use of a stolen vehicle
A prolific shoplifter has been sentenced to prison after being identified on CCTV stealing goods from a convenience store before leaving the scene in a vehicle that had been reported stolen days earlier.
36-year-old Thomas Smiley, was recorded entering the Co-op on Eye Road in Eye, near Peterborough, on 30 April, where he took merchandise valued at approximately £180 without paying.
Investigators later established that Smiley drove away from the store in a black Land Rover that had been stolen from outside a property in Walton five days before the incident.
At the time of the offence, Smiley was already due to appear in court in connection with several other crimes, including two shop thefts, the theft of a bank card, and the taking of a red Toyota Yaris from a car park at Fletton Quays earlier in the year.
Police arrested Smiley on 27 May as part of an operation targeting repeat offenders. However, officers found he had continued his criminal activity in the meantime, carrying out six additional shop thefts across Peterborough and stealing goods worth up to £687.
Smiley, of Lincoln Road, Walton, appeared before Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on 5 June. He admitted nine counts of shop theft, taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, theft of a motor vehicle, and theft from a motor vehicle.
The court sentenced him to 20 weeks in prison. He was also banned from driving for 14 months and ordered to pay £50 in compensation.
PC Jack Jenkins, from the northern spree offender team, said: “Smiley had a blatant disregard for the law as he continued to offend despite being subject to courts proceedings, and was even brazen enough to commit a theft while using a stolen car.”