Banned Leeds Co-op terror jailed after making staff's lives a misery in shoplifting spree
A brazen shoplifter who ignored an order banning him from Co-op continued to steal, taking hundreds of pounds worth of goods.
Drug addict Luke Waterson was given a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) last year for his persistent pilfering from the the store on Butcher Hill, West Park.
CBOs are issued as a last resort to halt criminality, and allows courts to fastrack defendants to prison should they breach the terms of their order.
Waterson was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week after entering the supermarket 13 times across July and August of this year.
On one visit, he stole £400 worth of ice cream, and on another took £100 worth of beer, prosecutor Freddie Adams told the court.
He visited the shop up to three times a day.
Waterson admitted 13 counts of theft and 13 breaches of his CBO.
He has 11 previous convictions for 112 offences, including 85 thefts and 11 previous breaches of his CBO.
The 27-year-old, of no fixed address, appeared in court over a video link from HMP Leeds.
He had been given the two-year CBO in August of last year. He was jailed in April of this year for eight months for further thefts and breaches.
Mitigating, Eleanor Durdy said his best point were his guilty pleas, although conceded they were only entered on the day he was due to stand trial.
She said he committed the offences because of his crack-cocaine habit. She said he had left school without qualifications and had never had a home.
Judge Simon Phillips KC said Waterson had an “unenviable record” and his previous engagement with probation was “poor”.
He said custody was the only option, adding: “The courts have given you opportunities time and time again to work with probation.”
He jailed Waterson for 12 months.