A PROLIFIC shoplifter has admitted breaching a countywide ban on entering BP garages to commit more thefts.

Jon Lee, 39, appeared before Southend magistrates yesterday (Wednesday, 29 January), charged with 61 offences – just 24 hours after his arrest.

In court, he admitted 32 counts of shop theft between 24 September 2024 and 2 January 2025 – 29 from BP garages including East Mayne in Basildon, Cranfield Park Road, Wickford, Orsett South and Orsett Cock on the A13 near Stanford-le-Hope and London Road, Benfleet; one from B&Q in Howard Way, Harlow; one from Sports Direct in Freeport shopping village, Braintree; and one from John Lewis in Bond Street, Chelmsford.

Lee, of Powell Road, Basildon, also admitted 29 breaches of a two-year criminal behaviour order issued on 26 June 2023, which forbade him from entering any BP service station in Essex.

In all, the court heard, his thefts, which ranged from a £720 electronic stove and £315 hair-stylers to two Keralan lamb curry meals and a pack of mini bites, totalled around £4,000.

Lee was committed to Basildon Crown Court for sentencing and he is next due to appear on 26 February.