Prolific Peterborough thief who stole booze from Sainsbury's and Tesco jailed

A prolific shoplifter who was caught on CCTV stealing alcohol from two shops has been jailed.

On 18 October, Brendan Keating, 23, entered Sainsbury’s in Oxney Road, Fengate, where he picked up two bottles of Ciroc vodka worth £82.

He hid the bottles in his jacket and went to leave without paying before staff members approached him and asked for him to either hand the bottles over or pay for them, but he refused and ran off.

A week later, on 24 October, Keating entered Tesco in Broadway, Peterborough city centre, and stole bottles of Smirnoff vodka and Jack Daniel’s whiskey worth £64.

Both incidents were reported to police who identified Keating from CCTV footage.

He was spotted by officers in Lincoln Road, Millfield, on Tuesday (31 October) and was arrested after a short foot chase.

Keating, of Belvoir Way, Welland, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (1 November) where he pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from a shop.

He was jailed for four months and ordered to pay £64 in compensation to Tesco and £82 in compensation to Sainsbury’s.

PC Niamh Skipworth, who investigated, said: “Prolific shoplifters such as Keating cause a lot of unnecessary grief to businesses around the city.

“As a force, we are working hard to identify these individuals and get measures in place to tackle their offending.

“In order for us to be able to identify those involved, I encourage businesses to continue reporting shoplifting incidents to us.”