Forty-nine charges of shop theft secured in Skegness in recent days

Neighbourhood Policing officers in Skegness have charged seven people with a total of 49 counts of shop theft amounting to over £3,100, a commercial burglary, and 12 Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) breaches in recent days.

Two men have been jailed, and the others are due to appear in court at a later date.

Martin Smith, 57, of no fixed address, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 4 July where he was imprisoned for 16 weeks.  He had been arrested the previous day for two counts of shop theft and eight CBO breaches. He pleaded guilty to the theft of 13 bottles of vodka to the value of £312 belonging to Morrisons.  He was ordered to pay £312 compensation.

Pictured: Martin Smith

Levi Marsden, 24, of Dorothy Avenue, Skegness appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on 6 July, charged with eight counts of shop theft from multiple stores across Skegness between 23 June and 4 July and breach of court bail. She pleaded guilty to the theft of over £600 worth of meat, fish, laundry products, and toiletries.  She has been bailed until a sentencing hearing currently scheduled for 5 August at Boston Magistrates’ Court.

Jack Holmes, 29, of Castleton Boulevard, Skegness, appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court on 4 July, charged with 12 counts of theft of grocery items (alcohol, coffee, laundry products, meat) and a gift set) totalling £980 from multiple stores across Skegness between 23 May and 10 June. He was bailed to appear at court at a later date.

Chloe Barnes, 31, of no fixed address, appeared before Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 3 July where she pleaded guilty to 16 theft offences totalling £893 carried out between 27 May and 2 July. At court, she received a community order, was ordered to pay compensation of £650 and was issued a drug rehabilitation requirement order.

James Gilliatt, 35, of no fixed address, has been charged with two counts of theft of multiple grocery items (coffee, beer, cider, chocolate) and an electric razor, totalling £45 from B&M on 4 and 21 May in Skegness. He has been released on conditional bail and is due to appear at court at a later date.

Brennan Reilly, 30, of South Parade, Skegness, has been jailed for 12 months after being charged with three counts of shop theft of items totalling £302, from incidents between 24 June and 3 July, four CBO breaches and one commercial burglary at Bottons Pleasure Beach Amusements on 6 July. He was sentenced at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 7 July and ordered to pay £745 in compensation.

Pictured: Brennan Reilly

Jake Hill, 30, of Castleton Boulevard, Skegness, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 7 July charged with breach of bail, six counts of shop theft between 31 May and 5 July of grocery items (wash pods, coffee, meat, deodorant) totalling £425.  In addition, he has been charged with criminal damage of a window, valued at £200, belonging to the Three Monkey’s Bar, Skegness.  He was ordered to pay £625 in compensation.

Skegness Community Beat Manager, PC Lucy Hawley, said:

This work forms part of a crackdown on shop theft within the town, which forms part of a much larger crime prevention strategy. Prolific shop theft offenders can often be linked to drug, burglary and other ASB offences.  By tackling these prolific offenders and providing support, advice and referrals, and custodial sentences, we are preventing associated offences.

Much of our strategic prevention work focuses on the use of legislative powers that enable us to impose conditions designed to deliver more positive preventative outcomes. Offenders progress through a structured process within the justice system, and our approach reflects this by adopting a graduated response. Where individuals fail to engage with the support offered or continue to breach imposed conditions, increasingly robust sanctions may be applied. This escalation can ultimately result in custodial sentences, as highlighted in this recent cases along with others county-wide.

This work not only seeks to obtain justice for crime and ASB against store staff and retailers, the principal aim of obtaining the CBOs is to introduce robust preventative measures that help create a safer and more welcoming environment.

We publish images of those who have been issued a CBO for the public’s awareness.