Travelling shoplifter from Corby sent back to jail

A serial shoplifter from Corby has been returned to prison after more stealing sprees.

Heidi James, 24, of no fixed abode, will spend 20 weeks behind bars after magistrates said they had no choice but to give her a custodial sentence because of her previous record.

Corby has suffered in recent months from a spate of shoplifting incidents by a core number of repeat offenders who are stealing an increasing amount of goods from the town’s stores in full view of security cameras. James is one of those offenders.

On October 30 she went to Tesco in Oakley Road to steal alcohol to the value of £191.50.

She was again caught stealing alcohol worth £467 from Tesco on November 1.

On November 17 she was back at Tesco to take alcohol worth £89.

On December 12 she stole alcohol worth £180 from the same store.

She appeared before Northampton Magistrates last week to admit those crimes, and was ordered to pay compensation to Tesco of £641.75.

She also pleaded guilty to a previous string of incidents committed in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

These included two counts of possession of heroin and cocaine in Peterborough in June. She also admitted stealing items from Poundland in Peterborough and alcohol worth £800 over two dates in February from Tesco in Bedford. She will have to pay back a further £400 to those stores.

James was sent to prison for 20 weeks on account of her previous bad character.

She has been in jail several times including after one incident where her co-defendant threatened to stab the victim.