A thief behind a crime spree that featured robberies, burglaries and over a dozen shop thefts has been locked up.
Raymond Ward targeted shop after shop either side of the New Year – pocketing items and angrily confronting anyone who challenged him.
Two such occasions saw Ward’s antics cross the line from shoplifting into robbery offences after he threatened to stab shopworkers who followed him out of the stores.
Those two incidents – in Clifton on 9 December and in Wilford on 7 January – came in the midst of a five-week period during which the 32-year-old brazenly walked into multiple shops with the intention to steal.
Designer clothes, alcohol, toiletries and electronic items were all stolen by Ward during 15 separate thefts across different parts of Nottingham, between 3 December and 9 January.
While many of these were low-level thefts, thanks to a recent change in the law meaning all shop thefts are now prosecuted the same way in court, no matter the value of the items, Ward was ultimately sanctioned for the lot.
In addition to his relentless shoplifting, Ward was also responsible for carrying out two burglaries during his crime spree.
He firstly helped himself to a gazebo after breaking into a house in The Park on 18 December, with the intruder then stealing electronic items and cash from a store in Nottingham city centre on 21 December too.
Ward’s final offences happened on 9 January, when he again threatened a staff member after taking items from a shop.
A pair of plyers and a screwdriver were then found in his possession when police caught up with him later that day.
He would go on to be charged with two robberies, two burglaries, 15 counts of shop theft, going equipped for theft, using threatening/abusive/ words/behaviour with intent to cause fear of unlawful violence, and breaking bail conditions.
Having pleaded guilty to each of the 22 offences put to him, Ward, of St Peter’s Street, Radford, attended Nottingham Crown Court to be sentenced on 25 April.
He was jailed for five years, and was also issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) banning him from entering eight addresses or areas he’d targeted during his crime spree.
Detective Constable Kirsty Allison, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“We’re really pleased with this result and the knowledge that Raymond Ward won’t be causing any issues on our streets or to our retailers for the foreseeable future.
“In the space of just over five weeks, he relentlessly targeted shops over and over again.
“On two of these occasions, his behaviour crossed the line from shoplifting to robbery offences, after he threatened to stab staff members if they didn’t get out of his way, which is incredibly serious.
“In addition to breaking into a house and a store after hours to once again take items that didn’t belong to him, Ward’s shoplifting saw him strike at shops on 15 separate occasions.
“While the items he stole differed in value, we were really pleased to see he was prosecuted for each of these counts and the low-value ones didn’t remain on file instead, as they would’ve done before recent legislation was introduced.
“It’s good to know Ward has now been punished for his actions, while the CBO included in his sentence will provide our communities with some extra protection from him when he’s released from prison.”
