Warren Staniforth is currently counting the cost of helping himself to Advent calendars, steaks, and cigarettes across Nottinghamshire.
The serial shoplifter will spend the next few weeks of his life in prison after police put an end to his spree.
Seven separate stores scattered across the county found themselves targeted by the 39-year-old over several weeks.
Most of Staniforth’s offending took place in the second half of last month – starting with the Co-op in Carrington on 15 October.
After going behind the counter and taking cigarettes from the shelves, he stole chocolate buttons on 16 October from Tesco in Bobbers Mill.
Further thefts followed over the next two days, with packs of steaks, prawns, and sweets taken from the Co-op stores in Sherwood and Carrington.
At that point, Staniforth took a break from thieving before ending the month by stealing from four more shops – three of which he hadn’t yet targeted.
This time, he helped himself to around £150 worth of Advent calendars, as well as bottles of booze and large quantities of coffee.
Staniforth was caught by the City West neighbourhood policing team not long after committing that final theft on 30 October.
By that point, he’d also been linked to a few more offences.
This included filling a bag with £400 worth of steak from a Kirkby-in-Ashfield store on 30 July and repeatedly using credit cards that had been reported stolen.
He would go on to be charged with eight counts of shop theft, a burglary, and two counts of fraud by false representation – offences he later admitted to in court.
Staniforth was also found guilty of stealing a smartphone after breaking into a vehicle parked in Berridge Road, Forest Fields, on 26 July.
He appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced on Thursday (7 November), where he was jailed for 24 weeks.
Staniforth, of no fixed address, was also ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation to the owner of the phone he stole.
PC Jonny Morgan, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“Over the space of several weeks, Warren Staniforth walked into shop after shop with the sole intention of stealing things.
“Whether it was boxes of chocolates, bottles of alcohol, or packs of meat products, he helped himself without a care in the world that what he was doing was wrong.
“Seven separate stores were targeted during the theft spree by Staniforth, who has found himself in trouble before for shoplifting.
“Despite receiving multiple warnings, he has continued to reoffend, so we’re pleased to see he’s now been sent to prison where he will remain over the Christmas period.”
