Corby man jailed after stealing 85-year-old woman's purse

A Corby thief who stole an 85-year-old woman’s purse has been put behind bars again.

James Adair, 35, carried out the theft in Stuart Road on May 27 before the purse was found dumped in a bin with £10 missing.

The well-known criminal also stole coffee from the One Stop store in Studfall Avenue on July 24 before returning to the shop on August 14 and October 7 to help himself to meat.

But he was finally arrested by volunteer special constables in the town on Saturday (October 14) before being charged with four offences.

At Northampton Magistrates’ Court Adair, of Brixham Walk, pleaded guilty to four charges of theft.

He was sentenced to a total of 14 weeks in prison, including 14 days for the breach of a previous suspended sentence.

Adair was also ordered to pay £10 in compensation to the purse theft victim and £40 to One Stop.

Sergeant Joe Addis-Phillips, from Northamptonshire Police, said: “James Adair is a well-known offender in Corby, and I am really pleased for our communities that he has received a custodial sentence for these matters.

“In the case of his repeated shop thefts, Adair was clearly captured on CCTV committing these offences, and thanks to our dedicated Operation Elegance retail crime evidence gatherers we were able to provide footage which left him with no option but to admit his guilt.”

Chief Inspector Carl Wilson added: “Retail crime is not victimless, it really affects businesses, contributes to higher prices for everyone else, and has a real effect on store staff.”