Prolific Jarrow shoplifter put behind bars for a ten-month crime spree

Crack cocaine addict Terry Pape, 41, was caged for 17 weeks by magistrates who told him he had an “horrendous” record and was a nuisance to retailers.

They said the risk Pape, of Iona Road, Jarrow, posed to businesses exceeded his right to be given another chance to mend his behaviour.

He netted £1,375 of goods from seven retailers – including Asda, Co-op and Morrisons - between Thursday, May 23, and Monday, March 3.

Pape targeted Heron Foods in Hedworth Lane, Jarrow, seven times and its Boldon Colliery outlet twice, pinching stock valued at £302.

The crook stole from Asda’s Boldon Colliery superstore three times, taking candles and two Shark carpet cleaners, totalling £559.

He struck twice at Morrisons, in Norham Terrace, Jarrow, taking £115 of mixed goods, and he pilfered £64 of meat from its branch in Seaburn, Sunderland.

Pape also took £100 of meat from a Sainsbury’s outlet and £60 of detergent from the Co-op’s branch in Mortimer Road, both South Shields, his last theft of 2024.

His offending moved into the new year with the theft of £34 of laundry products from B&M, in the Viking Centre, Jarrow.

Pape then pinched £140 of electrical goods from Cash Converter at the same location on Monday, February 10, with his final crime being against Heron Foods.

Prosecutor John Garside said: “The offences very much speak for themselves. He has gone into shops. It’s a loss to retailers of £1,375.”

Pape pleaded guilty to 19 counts of theft from a shop.

David Forrester, defending, told magistrates some of Pape’s offending could be linked to a drop off in support from the Probation Service.

He said: “You can’t ignore that. You can go to 2012 and then there’s a gap of five years.

“It’s then four years before another offence in 2021, and then 18 months before the next.

“He’s perpetually optimistic, almost like a puppy, that he’s going to make himself better.

“His partner is for him, his family is for him, but he struggles to walk the walk.

“He has a chaotic life, but a willingness to get better but not the ability to do that. He has an addiction to crack cocaine.”

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John Lee, chair of the bench, told Pape: “Drug addiction is a terrible thing, it gets a hold, and it ruins a life.

“You have an horrendous record. You’ve been offered help time and time before.

“You say you don’t want to be a criminal but you’re a nuisance to shopkeepers.

“The shopkeepers of this country are at their wits end. People are brazenly going into shops and taking things.

“We have to sometimes balance the needs of rehabilitation with the needs of the public.”

Pape was jailed for 17 weeks for a single theft against Heron Foods, with no separate penalty for all other crimes.

They also ordered him to pay full compensation to the retailers.

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