Thief gets suspended jail term after year-long spree

Gilbert stole items including fake grass from eight shops across Banbury

A thief stole more than £3,700 worth of items ranging from alcohol, fake grass and cat treats in a nearly year-long shoplifting spree around an Oxfordshire town.

Daniel Gilbert, 37, admitted stealing items from eight shops across Banbury 57 times between May last year and this April.

Gilbert, from Mollington, near Banbury, took products from the town's TK Maxx, Co-Op, Boots, Tesco Express, B&M Bargains, The Range, Home Bargains and Poundland stores.

He was given a given a four-month jail term, suspended for two years, by Oxford magistrates.

Items he stole ranged from food and other domestic products from the Co-Op, which he stole from 21 times, to gift sets from Boots worth hundreds of pounds. He took items from the health and beauty retailer's stores nine times.

During his sentencing on 6 June, magistrates told Gilbert that his offending was so serious that only a custodial sentence was justified.

He must also undergo a drug rehabilitation course, which will be reviewed in October.