Five people have been arrested or charged following a series of shop thefts at a retail park in Newark.
Police Constables Ryan Flaherty and Richard Bombroffe were on plain-clothes patrol in the town when four suspects were detained on Sunday, 1 March.
While cycling through the Northgate Retail Park area, the officers spotted Daniel Richens in the car park and followed him into B&M. He was detained after being found attempting to leave the store with 11 packs of butter.
While the officers were completing arrest paperwork, they were alerted to the theft of handbags from a nearby TK Maxx store. A group of suspects were located nearby and detained. Multiple handbags and laundry products were recovered.
Three people were later charged with shop theft. Stuart Gallagher, 43, and Tina Callery, 45, both of Adwick Le Street in Doncaster, have been bailed with conditions and are due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 17 and 19 March respectively.
Jamie Coles, 44, of no fixed address, has also been bailed with conditions and is scheduled to appear at the same court on 19 March.
A further arrest was made the following day after PC Flaherty reviewed CCTV footage relating to four shop thefts in Newark.
Daryl Coulter, 37, of no fixed address, was arrested on Monday, 2 March, at a property linked to him. He later admitted stealing a range of items including chocolates, laundry products and pork pies from Newark shops between 21 February and 2 March.
Coulter appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 3 March, where he was sentenced to four weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.
Inspector Charlotte Ellam, district commander for Newark and Sherwood, said plain-clothes patrols are among the tactics used by neighbourhood policing teams to identify offences such as retail theft.
• Drug dealer sentenced after hiding crack cocaine in a Nottinghamshire park
