Plymouth man jailed following shop thefts amounting to £1,200
A man from Plymouth has been jailed after pleading guilty to 16 shop theft offences, carried out between July and October this year.
On Thursday 8 October, David Knight, aged 45, of Rodda Close in Gunnislake appeared at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court where he admitted 16 counts of shop theft from Morrisons, Co-op and Home Bargains, totalling £1,200.
As a result, Knight received a 38-week prison sentence; 30 weeks for the shop theft offences and eight weeks activated as a result of breaching the conditions of his suspended sentence.
Inspector Paul Laity who leads Neighbourhood Policing Teams Devonport and West Devon said:
“I would like to thank each and every person from our business community who made reports and provided evidence that allowed us to target this offender.
“Knight’s behaviour has caused disruption in the area for several months and this result demonstrates that when reports are made and evidence is presented, we are able to pursue prolific offenders and ensure justice is delivered.
“Retail crime is one of our priorities in line with the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and we are actively targeting identified repeat offenders who are causing harm in our communities.
“We will continue in Plymouth to work closely with businesses and ‘Plymouth Against Retail Crime’ (PARC), sharing data, collating evidence and undertaking visible patrols in effected areas to detect and deter offending.”
Concerns relating to shop theft, crime or anti-social behaviour should be reported to Devon & Cornwall Police by calling 101 or using the appropriate form on the force website: www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime
Always call 999 in an emergency or if a crime is in progress.