‘You are a menace - but I’m determined to break this cycle’: Prolific Telford shoplifter with more than 38 convictions for shoplifting is sent to rehab
A prolific shoplifter who targeted stores in Telford during a string of thefts this year has been spared jail and sent to a drug rehabilitation centre in order to break her cycle of crime.
Naomi Wilson of High Street, Dawley, Telford was no stranger to the courts when she appeared before Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday (January 12), having previously appeared more than 37 times for over 114 offences.
The 38-year-old had this time admitted 38 charges including multiple counts of stealing from stores across Telford, as well as breaches of court orders and three breaches of a suspended sentence.
The court heard that during this latest bout of shoplifting last year, Wilson stole more than £5,700 of items, which she then went on to sell to pay for drugs.
She had admitted the offences at a court hearing in September.
Wilson, who had a "long list of offending" that related to a "long-standing drug issue" was described as a “menace” by judge Recorder Julian Taylor.
He told the defendant: “You are a prolific shoplifter.
“In these latest offences you stole £5,700 in the shops - and they will put their prices up, so we all are paying for your behaviour.”
He added: “You have lost your children and spent your life in and out of prison - and all this to take illegal drugs. I’m determined to break this cycle.
“I could send you to prison, but after a reduction for your guilty plea, you won’t stay in prison for very long and you will be back on the streets stealing property.
“You are frankly a menace to shops in this area and beyond.”
The judge imposed a three-year community order on Wilson and ordered her to attend the Willowdene drug rehabilitation centre for three months.
On her release, the judge said she would then have to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity with the probation service.
For her breaches of her suspended sentence the judge imposed a nominal £10 fine.