Zoe Errington, 44, of Kett’s Hill in Norwich, admitted to a series of shoplifting offences in her local area that totalled hundreds of pounds’ worth of items, from booze to clothes
A woman described as a ‘prolific theft offender’ by cops was today sentenced and banned from entering multiple local shops.
Zoe Errington, 44, of Kett’s Hill in Norwich, appeared at Norwich Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to two counts of theft from an outlet. She was slapped with a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) for three years and now cannot enter more than a dozen shops, including two Aldis, a Boots and a TK Maxx.
Her first offence happened on March 30 this year at a food store on Sprowston Road. CCTV footage caught Errington stealing groceries valued up to around £170. The second theft took place six weeks later on May 16 at a shop on Albion Way.
On this occasion, more than £180 worth of men’s clothing was nicked. She also admitted to seven other shoplifting offences, which were taken into consideration by the court under Operation Converter.
These occurred across Norwich shops between March 17 and June 14 this year. Items she stole during this shoplifting spree included reed diffusers, alcohol, groceries and skin care products.
Errington was also handed a 12-week suspended prison sentence during her court appearance. The conditions in her CBO while it is active state that she must not enter the following premises:
- Any Co-Operative Retail Store or East of England Co-Operative Store premises in Norfolk
- BP Garage, Mousehold Lane
- TK Maxx, Westwick Street
- Aldi, Drayton Road
- Aldi, Sprowston Road
- Boots, Albion Way
- Farmfoods, Westwick Street
- Superdrug, Stephens Street
- Somerfield, Earlham
- Angling Direct, Aylsham Road
- Cotswold Outdoors, Theatre Street
- Next Retail, Riverside Road
- Nike, Albion Way
- Halfords, Barker Street
- One Stop, Quebec Road
Elsewhere, a single mum who was spared prison four times in a single year was banged up earlier this month. Serial shoplifter Kayleigh Bradley received four suspended prison sentences over a 12-month period, in a criminal career stretching back more than decade.
The 37-year-old, from Liverpool, was told she had been given ‘chance after chance’ to clean up her Chester Crown Court heard on August 8 how Bradley, who has 128 offences on her record, preyed on shopkeepers by using a foil-lined bag and a small ‘de-tagger’ she had bought on the internet to beat the security alarms.
Her latest theft spree saw her caught stealing more than £4,000-worth of goods from stores across the Cheshire Oaks retail park in Ellesmere Port over a two-month period. The thefts also included a £3,213-worth of designer sunglasses from an opticians on three separate occasions.
Judge Patrick Thompson sentenced her to 20 months in jail, adding: “‘You need to understand that people cannot afford for others to steal from them. You may see stores as easy prey but the shop owners and people who work there rely on them for their families.
“When people constantly steal from shops, eventually the shops find it difficult to operate economically. It is a real problem but it is particularly serious when you are serving not one, not two, not three but four various suspended sentences.”
Meanwhile, supermarket chain Iceland has rolled out a new scheme seeing people rewarded for reporting shoplifters. In a bid to tackle rising levels of theft, the firm will see shoppers recognised for helping with information that might see shoplifters apprehended for their crimes.
The supermarket is estimated to have lost around £20m each year as a result of shoplifting, with those reporting theft set to see £1 credit added to their Iceland Bonus Card. Shoplifters do not necessarily need to be caught, as long as the information is reported and verified, customers will see the reward added to their card.
Iceland executive chairman, Richard Walker, said: “We’re encouraging our loyal customers to help sound the alarm. If they do help to catch a shoplifter, we’ll top up their Bonus Card to spend in store.”
