A Corby man who admitted three shop thefts and breaching his bail conditions has been jailed for 12 weeks.

Robert Mort, aged 38, was arrested on Saturday, April 6, after Northamptonshire Police received reports which indicated he could be involved in theft incidents in the town’s stores.

At the time, Mort was on bail with strict conditions preventing him from entering Morrisons in Oakley Road, having appeared in court on Tuesday, April 2, to admit the theft of plants worth £16.50 from the store on March 28.

But just four days later he was back at the store’s petrol station, leading staff to raise the alarm and prompting a proactive policing response that ended in his arrest later that day.

Mort, of Ripley Walk, Corby, was charged with one count of theft from Morrisons on April 6, and one count of theft from the town’s TK Maxx on the same date.

Appearing at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Monday, April 8, he entered guilty pleas to both charges, and also admitted one count of breaching bail conditions in relation to going to Morrisons.

Mort was sentenced for all four offences and received a prison sentence totalling 12 weeks, with the reasons for this given as the seriousness of his offending and the number of his previous convictions.

He was also ordered to pay £15.98 compensation.

Speaking after sentencing, Sergeant Steve Briggs of Corby Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We take a zero-tolerance approach to shoplifting in Corby and proactively target known offenders as soon as we get wind that they are actively committing crime.

“When it became apparent on April 6 that Robert Mort was not only breaching his bail but apparently offending again, we put officers straight into action tracking him down for arrest.

“They caught up with him during a reported theft from TK Maxx, and he was brought into custody, while efforts to secure CCTV and further evidence continued in order to secure charges.

“This hard work paid off and Mort was brought before magistrates the following Monday where he was rightly sent to jail. He is a prolific offender and I have no doubt our town is safer while he is behind bars.

“Cases like this illustrate the great work we have taking place between our Neighbourhood Policing Team dealing with incidents and proactively going after offenders, the Force’s Retail Crime Team which secures evidence and builds cases to enable prompt charges, and our partners at the Northamptonshire Business Crime Partnership who work with businesses to alert them to known offenders so they can protect their staff and stores, and share vital information with us in return.”

Sergeant Sharan Wildman, of the Retail Crime Team, added: “We are dedicated to making our county a hostile place for retail offenders. Our team works with officers across the Force to both lead and support retail crime investigations, enabling evidence to be compiled swiftly and effectively so we can secure charges as quickly as possible, and also offer support to retail workers and businesses affected by crime.”

Northamptonshire Police is committed to delivering against the national Retail Crime Action Plan, working alongside retail business partners to reduce retail theft and offences against retail staff, and bring more offenders to justice.

Report non-emergency crime by calling 101 or online at www.northants.police.uk/RO. In an emergency always call 999.