Kettering thief takes crime count to 150 after admitting more shoplifting offences

A prolific thief took the number of crimes on his record to 150 after admitting six more Kettering shoplifting incidents.

Phillip Bradford was jailed for eight months in June and, having already spent months on remand, was released not long after being sentenced.

But just weeks after becoming a free man the 38-year-old found himself back in the dock after stealing yet again – taking his theft tally alone to 92.

Northampton Magistrates’ Court heard Bradford, who is of no fixed address but in the Kettering area, carried out five thefts at the town’s Sainsbury’s.

Two were in one day on August 8 – in one he stole three bottles of Whitley Neill gin worth £84 and in the second he stole five Lego sets, valued at £125.

He returned to the Rockingham Road store the next day and helped himself to three more Whitley Neill gin bottles, this time worth £88.50.

On August 12 he stole three bottles of Highland Park whisky worth £126 before taking seven beef roasting joints worth £152.88 on August 18.

Bradford also stole five bags of Ariel washing pods, worth £64.95, from B&M in High Street on August 14.

Magistrates sentenced him to 12 weeks in prison but suspended the sentence for 12 months. He must take part in rehabilitation activities and pay compensation of £553.40 and costs of £85.

When Bradford was last jailed Northampton Crown Court heard his offending was linked to a drug addiction. He apologised and told a judge that burglaries were ‘totally out of character for him’.