Prolific thief is locked up

Chesterfield magistrates’ court heard on Monday, April 7, how Robert Morris, 49, of Spring Bank Road, Chesterfield, was spotted on CCTV stealing electrical items from Tesco, on Lockoford Lane.

Prosecuting solicitor John Cooper said: “A security guard at Tesco viewed the CCTV and his attention was drawn to a male on the electrical aisle who had several bags.

“Morris selected two items from the shelves and doubled-back and selected a handful of memory cards and then put them in a bag.

“He has then gone past the tills making no attempt to pay.”

Mr Cooper explained Morris had stolen memory cards and two webcams and used a foil-lined bag which someone gave him to stop the alarms going off.

Morris, who has over 100 previous convictions including 91 for theft, pleaded guilty to the Tesco theft after the offence on April 5.

He also accepted he committed the theft while he was subject to a one year conditional discharge from December for a separate theft.

Julie Page, defending, said: “He accepts entering the site with a bag given to him by someone else and he’s admitted the offence.

“He had hoped he would get caught because he was spiralling out of control, but if he had got away with the offence it would have solved immediate monetary difficulties.”

Ms Page added Morris had been struggling with limited benefits, heroin use and the death of his grandmother who had cared for him since he was a baby.

Magistrates sentenced Morris to four weeks in custody for the theft and for breaching a conditional discharge.