Man jailed after stealing £5,000 worth of tobacco

Jamie Doyle, 36, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to multiple offences

A man has been jailed after stealing nearly £5,000 pounds worth of tobacco from Bristol businesses.

Jamie Doyle, 36, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery, four counts of commercial burglary and two counts of shoplifting and was sentenced to three years and nine months at Bristol Crown Court on Monday.

The offences, which took place in October, included stealing more than £1,300 in tobacco from the Co-Op in Church Road, St George, and violently pushing a staff member at the nearby Co-Op on Two Mile Hill.

Sgt Chris Wright said Doyle had caused "alarm" and "unnecessary stress to someone just trying to go about their daily job" in his efforts to get his "tobacco fix".

Avon and Somerset Police said the court was told how Doyle entered the Co-Op on Two Mile Hill at about 08:10 GMT on 9 October before "he violently pushed" the staff member and stole thousands of pounds worth of tobacco.

During a run of four days, he returned and stole from the same shop and targeted a Tesco in Bell Hill Road and the Co-Op in Church Road.

In total, Doyle had stolen nearly £5,000 worth of tobacco, as well as more than £60 in groceries and a £30 bottle of alcohol.

He was arrested on 13 October.

Sgt Wright said shoplifting and theft impact everyone, especially businesses who experience a "significant financial loss".

"For staff members, it can be shocking and scary. For communities, it can have both financial and personal implications," he said.

He said customers suffer "the burden of shop theft" due to businesses hiking their product prices to "afford the losses caused by people like Doyle".

He added that systems had been introduced to make it easier for retailers to share CCTV and other evidence with police.