Shoplifter jailed after health food theft spree across six counties

Varnescu admitted thefts from ten stores across six counties

A man has been jailed after he stole £5,000 worth of health foods and products in a 24-hour shoplifting spree.

Nottinghamshire Police said Ilie Varnescu targeted Holland and Barrett stores in Nottinghamshire on 12 November last year.

He filled his pockets with goods and left without paying, the force said.

Varnescu admitted multiple thefts and was sentenced to three years in jail at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

The force said the defendant took probiotics and other health items from stores in Nottingham city centre, Sherwood, Beeston, Mansfield, and Loughborough, in Leicestershire, during the November spree.

However he had also stolen products from Holland and Barrett stores in Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, and Hinckley, Leicestershire, on 3 November and 12 November.

'Career criminal'

He also stole health products from Holland and Barrett branches in Crewe, in Cheshire, on 13 November, and Lancaster, in Lancashire, on 3 March 2024, the force said.

Varnescu, of School Road, Billesley, Birmingham, also stole from a Co-op store in Egremont, Cumbria, on 21 October 2023.

Nottinghamshire Police said the ten stores he targeted lost £9,000 worth of stock, in total

PC Abby Pinnock said: "Varnescu is a career shoplifter who knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to target each of these stores."

The court recommended Varnescu, a Romanian national, be deported when he is released from prison.