Nuisance thief with 173 criminal offences caught stealing from Asda and Savers after West Yorkshire town ban

Drug addict Scott Crawford was given a criminal behaviour order (CBO) earlier this year, banning him from the South Elmsall and Hemsworth area. Wakefield Council and West Yorkshire Police worked together to submit the three-year order, which was granted by Leeds Magistrates’ Court in February, and makes it easier for the courts to deal with Crawford if he breaches the terms.

The homeless 49-year-old breached the CBO seven times in the space of three weeks across June and July, Leeds Crown Court heard this week. On each of those occasions he shoplifted, and also stole a parcel left outside a person’s home containing walking boots worth around £34.

He stole from shops including Asda, Savers and Today’s Local in South Elmsall, hiding items such as meat, laundry tablets and coffee in his clothes or a bag before walking out. The court was told that the items’ total value was more than £404 and nothing was recovered. After his arrest, he remained silent during his police interview.

Appearing in court via video link from HMP Durham, where he was being held on remand, he admitted seven breach and seven thefts.

Mitigating, Satpal Roth-Sharma said: “These offences are committed purely by way of survival. They are to feed his drug habit. It’s a cycle he wishes to break, but every time he leaves prison he does not have the accommodation to fix firm roots in the community.

"He feels that when he is released he is put back into the same situation and left with no option but to commit offences.”

She said that he was now on a methadone programme to combat his heroin addiction and he was keen to get back into work as a steel erector in the building industry.

Judge Robin Mairs told Crawford: “It could be said it’s not serious criminal behaviour, but nor is it minor for shopkeepers who find items taken from their shelves, pilfered by you.

"I can have no faith a community sentence is workable or feasible in your case.” He jailed Crawford for 20 months.