Serial Hartlepool shoplifter targeted Sainsbury's, SPAR and One Stop shops in £5,000 spree

Michael Mathieson targeted Sainsbury’s, One Stop and SPAR shops in town on multiple occasions, making off with numerous individual hauls worth hundreds of pounds.

Forty-year-old Mathieson, who is banned from Middleton Grange shopping centre, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of shoplifting and was jailed by Teesside Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Dan Hill said the thefts took place between January 26 and April 2 and amounted to £4,991.50.

He told the court: “They are severely aggravated by the amount of offences.

“The defendant was on a community order at the time of making the thefts and they were of high value.”

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The court heard that 10 of the charges related to Sainsbury’s.

On February 13 this year drug addict Mathieson stole alcohol valued at £684 to sell to feed himself and buy drugs.

He also stole around £800 in chocolate, coffee and biscuits from a One Stop shop on several occasions, together with energy drinks and an Easter egg from a SPAR store.

Mathieson has a lengthy record with 110 recorded offences, around three quarters of them being theft related.

Neil Taylor, mitigating, said his client was stuck in a “vicious cycle” due to being homeless and dependent on drugs and said there was a lack of support for newly-released offenders.

“Mr Mathieson, very sadly, is a product of today’s society and the judicial system,” he said.

"He very quickly reverted to stealing to keep himself alive.”

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Referring to the shop thefts, Mr Taylor said: “There’s no confrontation, no abuse of staff and shopkeepers.”

He added Mathieson, of no fixed address, was not alone for several of the thefts.

Magistrates jailed him for 36 weeks and ordered him to pay back the full value of what he stole in compensation to the respective stores.

Chair of the bench Heather Goodwill told him: “These were high value shop thefts committed while you were on a community order and you have a dreadful record of antecedents.

"We feel these matters are so serious only custody can be justified.”