Cambridgeshire shoplifter targeted same Tesco six times in three weeks

A shoplifter who targeted the same shop six times in the space of a few weeks has been jailed.

Ricky Lake, 36, stole items worth more than £230 from Tesco Express, in Kirkgate Street, Wisbech, in the crime spree between 15 November and 6 December.

He was arrested on Wednesday (8 January) after officers found him hiding in the back garden of a house in Bath Road, Wisbech.

Lake, of no fixed address, admitted all six thefts, as well as thefts from Elm Post Office, in Elm, near Wisbech, the Premier shop, in Quaker Lane, Wisbech, and Tesco, in Hostmoor Avenue, March, between 16 November and 4 January.

On Thursday (9 January) he was jailed for 49 days, which included the activation of a 14-day suspended sentence given in September for shoplifting, at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court.

He was also ordered to pay £50 in compensation to Tesco.

Sergeant David Arnold, from the Wisbech Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Prolific offenders can have a significant on the businesses they target, especially financially.

“I encourage any business affected by retail crime, such as shoplifting, to report it to us so we can take action.”