Man who is banned from every Morrisons store is jailed after a theft in South Tyneside

Anthony Parkin, 39, is starting 26 weeks behind bars for a total of 12 shop thefts – totalling £788 - committed over four weeks between October and November.

One crime was pinching goods from the Co-op’s branch in Mill Lane, Whitburn, the borough’s magistrates’ court heard.

Parkin, of Bodiam Road, Castletown, Sunderland, also stole four times from the firm’s outlet in Chiswick Square, Hylton Castle.

And he committed three raids at Morrisons in Ethel Terrace, Castletown, and took stock from Aldi in Carley Hill Road, Southwick, both Sunderland.

Included in his sentence was a concurrent 12-week jail term for breaching a court-ordered Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), which ordered him to steer clear of Morrisons.

The court heard Parkin was jailed for 44 weeks in August but was back on the streets in time to start his latest crime spree on Sunday, October 27.

Prosecutor Bushra Begum said: “He’s gone into these shops, selected items and left without offering payment.

“He was not to go into any Morrisons store at all. He’s a defendant with an extensive record of convictions.

“He has 46 previous convictions from 140 offences, 104 of which are for theft of kindred.

“The most relevant is the most recent, which was in August this year for 22 thefts. That was a 44-week sentence for which he is on licence.”

Parkin pinched items valued at £328 from Morrisons, £400 from the Co-op and £60 from Aldi.

He pleaded guilty to 12 counts of shop theft and three of breaching a CBO.

Gerry Armstrong, defending, said there was no “magic wand” to fix Parkin’s repeated brushes with the law.

Click here to get the Shields Gazette’s headlines delivered to your inbox with our email newsletters

Mr Armstrong said Parkin suffered from being released from prison with no support in place, no money and nowhere to live.

He added: “He comes before the court to plead guilty, he always does. He always comes out of prison and there is nothing there.

“He has nowhere to go and is struggling because he has no accommodation. There’s no suggestion here of confrontation or violence.”

Judge Passfield jailed Parkin for 26 weeks for each theft, to run concurrently, and to 12 weeks for the CBO breaches, also to run concurrently to each other and to the other sentence.