'Hardcore' Leeds shoplifter has sentence slashed after court review

James Nye was handed a 40-week stint behind bars in December for more than a dozen separate offences, stealing hundreds of pounds worth of items during a 10-day stint.

The 27-year-old stole food, vodka, bedding, beauty and hair products from stores between December 1 and 10 last year. He took from M&S on Wellington Street, Sally Beauty on Albion Street, B&M on City South Retail Park, Superdrug at Crown Point and Jysk at Tulip Retail Park. He also assaulted a member of staff of staff at M&S, barging them out of the way, and refused to provide a sample to police for a drugs test.

Homeless Nye admitted all of the offences and was jailed at Leeds Magistrates' Court on December 13. He was also handed the three-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) excluding him from all retail premises within the city centre, Crown Point Retail Park and City South Retail Park. The CBO makes it easier for the courts to jail him should be breach its terms.

Get the latest headlines, straight to your inbox, with YEP’s free emails

The police even described him as a "hardcore offender" who "repeatedly targets city centre shops on a daily basis cause significant harm to local retailers". Indeed, he has 36 previous convictions for 100 offences, many for theft. But Nye came back before Leeds Crown Court on Friday having appealed his sentence, claiming it was unduly long. Mitigating on his behalf, Rhianydd Clement agreed that the CBO was "entirely appropriate" and that jail was necessary, but felt the overall sentence he received was not proportional.

She said the father-of-four suffers from a series of mental health issues and has recently resumed medication for paranoid schizophrenia. He was also taking methadone to combat his heroin addiction. She said he began taking heroin after his mother died in March 2022, that they were best friends and that it "severely impacted him".

The presiding judge, Recorder Simon Jackson KC, along with two members of an independent panel, discussed the appeal and reduced his sentence from 40 weeks to 32. He will serve half before being released on licence.