A PROLIFIC shoplifter has been jailed after ignoring a court order banning him from entering a Stanford-le-Hope shop.

Kyle Sherwin, 38, of Dowland Close in the town, was arrested in April 2024 after officers from the Stanford Centre Team mounted a plain clothes operation to stop him.

Investigating officer PC Matthew O'Shea says Operation Charge was set up to target shoplifters and other prolific offenders across the Thurrock district. He says:

"We identified patterns in Sherwin's behaviour and then it was a case of being in the right place at the right time. He was arrested within 15 minutes of us starting the operation."

Sherwin had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to stealing a total of £636.70 of meat, cheese and laundry detergent from the Co-op on the High Street on seven occasions between 15 and 28 April 2024.

He was jailed at Basildon Crown Court for a total of 14 months for the thefts and for seven breaches of a five-year criminal behaviour order (CBO*) imposed by the same court on 24 February 2023.

The CBO, which was applied for by the Essex Police specialist Business Crime Team, banned Sherwin from entering several shops, including the Stanford-le-Hope Co-op.

While in custody, the court heard, Sherwin also failed to comply with a requirement under a drug test on arrest scheme to be tested for cocaine, heroin and crack cocaine.

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People who test positive are required to attend assessments with one of three drug treatment charities we work with across Essex. 

PC O'Shea says: "Sherwin is a prolific shoplifter who had been causing the Co-op staff a lot of stress and grief as well as significant financial losses.

"We worked out his pattern of offending and then set out to arrest him. I hope staff and customers of the store feel safer now they know Sherwin is behind bars.

"He was given a chance by the courts when the criminal behaviour order was issued but decided to ignore it and is facing the consequences of his actions.

"We take reports of shoplifting seriously but recognise it can go unreported, so we urge retailers and their staff to report shop theft, abuse and anti-social behaviour to us.

"We use information to spot patterns and target our operational activity accordingly, as we did with this case."

*A criminal behaviour order, or CBO, is a set of conditions placed on an individual by a court, which will prevent the person from causing further harm against the business.

The conditions could include banning the individual from entering a particular shop or area, such as a town centre, for a defined amount of time. Where appropriate, they also require offenders to engage in treatment services, such as drug and alcohol addiction support.

It is an offence to breach the terms of a CBO and courts can impose a jail term or a fine, or both, for an adult convicted of breaching them.