South Shields shoplifter spared jailed after soapy thefts
A shoplifter who continued his drug-fuelled lapse into offending by stealing £272 of goods during four thefts from two stores has been spared jail.
Michael Wright, 35, was sentenced to a total of 14 weeks imprisonment but walked free from a court after a judge suspended the term for 18 months.
Wright, of Lumley Avenue, near Horsley Hill, struck first by pinching six packs of chicken from the Co-op in Mortimer Road, South Shields, on Wednesday, January 8.
He then took £88 of washing products from Sainsbury’s in Prince Edward Road, the Nook, South Shields, on Thursday, January 23, prosecutor Michael Embleton said.
And he returned to the same store on each of the next two days, first taking six packs of Fairy washing products and then £120 of other goods.
At the borough’s magistrates’ court, he pleaded guilty to four counts of theft from a shop.
In September, he was jailed for eight weeks for shoplifting, and in October, received the same sentence but suspended for 18 months, for breaching a restraining order.
He did so by visiting his mum at her South Shields home when prohibited from doing so by a court, except without her prior permission.
The Probation Service said Wright was struggling to manage drug misuse, the prime factor to his offending.
Despite that, it said he had shown “positive engagement” with its services and his bid to tackle his drug issue would be better done in the community than prison.
It was also said Wright owes around £12,000 to the courts in fines and costs from previous offending.
Alastair Naismith, defending, said Wright had worked successfully as an electrician before his drug addiction took hold.
Mr Naismith told District Judge Zoe Passfield: “He tells me that he’s doing drug work with Probation. He is insightful about his drug use.
“He doesn’t want to go back to prison. He just gets himself stuck. His life has fallen off a cliff.”
Judge Passfield jailed Wright for 10 weeks for the shop thefts and to four weeks, consecutively, for breaching a conditional discharge, both suspended.
He must complete 25 rehabilitation days and pay a £154 victim surcharge, with no compensation ordered due to his debt.