Christmas in prison for Peterborough thief who stole 34 bottles of Jack Daniels from Tesco

Ion Dumitri, 49, was arrested at the Cromwell Road supermarket on Monday afternoon (1 November) following reports of attempted theft from the store in Wisbech.

He was stopped by security guards as he went to leave the shop with £643.95 worth of alcohol and food in his trolley, having made no attempt to pay for it.

Dumitri was recognised after having been caught on CCTV stealing from the store twice last month.

On 16 October, he filled bags which were inside a trolley with two bottles of cognac, two bottles of vodka and 34 bottles of Jack Daniels worth £1,246.

In order to hide the number of bottles, he placed packs of tortilla wraps on top of the bags and made his way out of the shop where he loaded the haul into his car.

Twelve days later on 28 October, Dumitri went back to the same store where he did exactly the same, this time stealing 30 bottles of Jack Daniels, six bottles of whiskey and two bottles of vodka totalling £1,264.45.

Following the latest ‘shop’ on 1 November where staff intervened before Dumitri was able to make off with the goods, he was arrested on suspicion of theft and going equipped for theft after magnets were found on him.

PC Joshua Crown, who investigated, said: “Dumitri was so brazen in his actions, carrying out high-value thefts on two separate occasions and nearly getting away with a third.

“These were clearly planned with him concealing the many bottles so not to raise suspicions and using items to out-smart the store alarms.”

Dumitri, of Sandford in Westwood, Peterborough, was charged with two counts of theft of goods worth £2,510.45, as well as going equipped for theft, both of which he admitted at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (2 November).

He was sentenced to 17 weeks in prison as well as being made to pay £2,510.45 compensation to Tesco.