99 weeks in prison for persistent Kettering shoplifter
A man who was warned by a court he’d go to prison if he went out shoplifting again went straight back out and targeted the same shops.
Aiden Sutton, 32, has been jailed for nearly two years by magistrates after he targeted the same A14 service stations nine times after being handed a suspended sentence for similar crimes.
Aiden Sutton, of Highfield Crescent in Kettering, was handed a 45-week sentence suspended for 18 months at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on September 15 this year, after admitting to a string of offences.
Sutton received the suspended sentence and was ordered to pay more than £880 compensation after he pleaded guilty to nine theft from shop offences between August 29 and September 11 this year.
Last month (November 20), Sutton was back before the same court, where he pleaded guilty to a further nine theft from shop charges, and was sentenced to just shy of two years in prison due to his persistent offending while a suspended sentence was in operation.
These offences related to thefts from the same business – the BP Service Station on the A14 at Kettering – between September 11 and November 4 this year, when he stole various items including meat, confectionery and ice-cream to the value of more than £900.
Sutton was handed five-week custodial sentences for each new offence to run consecutively but, following the activation of his suspended sentence, he will serve a total of 99 weeks in prison. He was also ordered to pay £695.47 in compensation.
Neil Cowley of the Northamptonshire Business Crime Partnership said: “Retail crime is in no way a victimless offence – it harms store workers, businesses and contributes to higher prices for the rest of us.
“Aidan Sutton’s persistent offending has caused untold stress and misery on those businesses that he targeted, and we hope that the lengthy custodial sentence imposed by the courts will provide him with the help and support he clearly needs.
“We also hope that this sentence sends a clear message to other persistent offenders that we, alongside Northamptonshire Police, take retail crime very seriously and will continue to work hard to prevent offences, support stores and bring those responsible to justice.”