Prolific Cambridgeshire shoplifter jailed

William Excell, 40, went on the stealing spree in Cambridge from November until May, making off with 18 designer handbags from TK Maxx in four separate incidents.

Other items stolen from a variety of outlets in the city included two pairs of designer sunglasses, seven bottles of fragrance, nine bottles of alcohol and an electric toothbrush worth £350.

On 21 April Excell stole a mountain bike which had been left unlocked outside a branch of the Co-op, in Chesterton Road.

When he was challenged by a TK Maxx security guard on 10 May he produced a pair of pliers, threatened the man and attempted to bite him.

Excell, of Crawford Close, Cambridge, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of theft from a shop, one of theft of a bicycle and one of common assault.

On Friday (7 June) at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court, he was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison for each of the offences, to be served concurrently. A previous 16-week suspended sentence was added, meaning he was jailed for a total of 32 weeks.

PC Grahame McLennan said: “Excell is a prolific shoplifter who stole thousands of pounds worth of items by blatantly walking into shops, picking up high value items and strolling out without paying.

“We will not tolerate threatening behaviour, such as he showed towards the security in one of these incidents. He demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the staff at these retail outlets.”