Prolific Telford shoplifter with more than 200 offences to his name is jailed and banned from stores

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Connor Heneghan, aged 28, of no fixed abode, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Thursday (October 15) having admitted targeting a Tesco store and Co-op in Telford on 37 occasions.

He was also charged with theft from a convenience store in the West Midlands that took place in August last year.

Danny Smith, prosecuting, said Heneghan was a “prolific shoplifter” who was no stranger to the court having previously accumulated 20 convictions for 176 offences - including 154 shoplifting charges.

He said Heneghan’s latest shoplifting spree in Telford spanned from March to July this year, where he targeted the two stores in the town on 36 occasions.

Mr Smith said he targeted Tesco on 15 occasions and the Co-op on 22 occasions, stealing in total £998 worth of goods from Tesco and £1,576 from Co-op.

“The offending takes place during the day. The defendant enters the store and selects products that are easy to sell. He then leaves the store without payment,” Mr Smith explained.

He said items stolen ranged from laundry products and chocolate to coffee and meat.

“These offences have a significant impact on the retail workers and the blatancy of the offences impact the rule of law,” he said. “He is just not bothered when confronted.”

Rob Edwards, in mitigation, said the basis for all Heneghan’s offending was “drugs”.

“He has a raging addiction to anything he can get, predominantly cocaine, but anything to dull the life he is going through,” he said, but the barrister added that since Heneghan had been on remand, he had been free of both illegal drugs and methadone.

Judge Trevor Meegan said only a custodial sentence that was immediate was justified in Heneghan’s case.

“This type of crime, as Mr Smith says in his opening, has a huge impact on small shops up and down the country,” the judge said. “What stands out in this case is the sheer number of offences. You targeted those shops because they were easy. They are not large shops with security guards at the door or lots of CCTV cameras.

“What is of particular concern is of all the previous sentences, none has failed to deter you. In August 2025 you received a suspended sentence and you continued to commit further offences of precisely the same nature. Previous opportunities for rehabilitation and previous punishments have had no effect.”

He jailed Heneghan for two years and two months, telling the defendant he would serve 33 per cent of his sentence in prison before being released on licence.

Heneghan was also slapped with a Community Behaviour Order, banning him from a range of stores in Telford including Tesco Express, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Greggs.