'Brazen' shoplifter sentenced over hot tub heist

Carl Proctor tried to steal a Lay-Z-Spa from B&Q in Crewe

A "brazen" thief who was caught trying to sneak an inflatable hot tub out of a B&Q store has been ordered to pay thousands of pounds in compensation and banned from a number of shops.

Carl Proctor was given a community order and is prohibited for the next three years from entering Boots and Tesco in Hanley, Pets At Home in Trent Vale and any B&Q store in Staffordshire and Cheshire.

The 41-year-old was stopped by security on 11 August after he set off the fire alarm at B&Q in Crewe as he tried to exit through a side door with a Lay-Z-Spa in a trolley.

He was ordered to pay a total of £3,272 in compensation relating to a string of offences.

These included assault and possession of a Class B drug as well as nine counts of theft.

"Proctor was brazen in his attempts to steal from the stores in Crewe and Hanley, taking thousands of pounds' worth of goods," said Insp Dan Welch, of Cheshire Police.

The 41-year-old, who fled without the hot tub while police were being called, had previously taken about £1,800 worth of items from B&Q as well as a Sharp TV from Tesco in Hanley, in Stoke-on-Trent, in July.

Proctor, of Chell Heath Road, Stoke-on-Trent, was sentenced at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on Monday.