South Tyneside thief who fled to London is jailed after £2,000 shoplifting spree
“He’s been subject to quite a lot of violence and threats.”
A South Tyneside thief who went on a month-long shoplifting spree then fled to London over drug debt threats has been jailed.
Corey Windsor, 31, is starting 12 weeks behind bars for pinching almost £2,000 of goods during 23 thefts from six South Shields stores in only four weeks in July.
And Windsor, of Valley Lane, Marsden, will serve another six weeks for three other offences, including one of failing to be drug tested when required.
He began his spree by stealing £324 of coffee and laundry products from Sainsbury’s in Binchester Street, Simonside, on Wednesday, July 1.
And he ended it on Monday, July 27, in pinching butter, cheese, sausages and other goods, all to an unknown value, from Morrisons in Dean Road, Chichester.
In between, he targeted the same Sainsbury’s outlet once more and the firm’s branch in Stanhope Road, at the West Park, six times.
He stole from the same Morrisons a further six times, the Co-op in Mortimer Road on three occasions and Heron Foods outlets four times, including three in Frederick Street, Laygate.
Windsor also targeted British Food Mart in Mortimer Road, on Sunday, July 12, swiping £12 of alcohol.
In total, he pinched goods valued at £896 from Sainsbury in Stanhope Road and £324 from Binchester Street, prosecutor Glenda Beck said.
Mrs Beck said Windsor also took £311 from Heron Foods, £246 from Morrisons and £198 from the Co-op.
Windsor pleaded guilty to 23 counts of shop theft, and he also admitted failing to provide a sample to be tested for a class A drug on Tuesday, July 28.
And he admitted illegally being in possession of class C anxiety treatment drug pregabalin on Monday, July 27, and failing to surrender to custody on Thursday, August 20, and Thursday, September 17.
David Forrester, defending, said: “He’s here today because he handed himself in at the weekend.
“He came back from London and the reason he’s been in London is that since he stopped paying for these drugs at the time of his offences, he’s been subject to quite a lot of violence and threats.
“He needed to steal to get drugs or to pay for drugs that he’d had.
“He’s a young man who clearly has a lot of things going on, but he hasn’t reoffended, and he isn’t involved in a large stream of shoplifting, it was just the month of July.”
District Judge Zoe Passfield jailed Windsor for 12 weeks for each shoplifting offence, to run concurrently and to four consecutive weeks for failing to be drug tested.
She also jailed him for two consecutive weeks, to run concurrently to each other, for each of his two failing to surrender to custody matters - a total of 18 weeks behind bars.
There was no separate penalty for drug possession.
The judge did not order Windsor to compensate the retailers, but he must pay a £154 victim surcharge.
Judge Passfield told him she gave him credit for his guilty pleas but that she could find no exceptional circumstance as to why he should not be jailed.