A thief who stole from one Long Eaton shop twice in less than three hours has told a court he won't steal again.
Jordan Werkowski-Freeman wracked up an astonishing 103 thefts, including clothing, chocolate, meat, coffee and fabric softener.
The 30-year-old would sometimes steal to combat his hunger but on other occasions he stole to feed his heroin habit.
Derby Crown Court was told how he twice stole food from Farmfoods in Long Eaton during a period of less than three hours.
'A catalogue of shoplifting'
Jailing Werkowski-Freeman for 14 months, Judge Nirmal Shant QC said: “It is almost impossible to summarise your antecedent history (criminal record) because it is a catalogue of shoplifting for which you receive longer and longer custodial sentences, which do not deter you.
“I understand that some of these offences are you stealing for food to satisfy your hunger.
“But you also steal items to sell to fund your drug addiction.
“If you keep shoplifting you know what will continue to happen to you don’t you?”
Werkowski-Freeman replied: “I won’t.”
Elisabeth Evans, prosecuting, said the spree of thefts took place between mid-March and early May.
She said his method of operation was to simply walk into stores and supermarkets, select items that he wanted and walk out without paying.
Detailing each offence, Miss Evans said the shops included Home Bargains, in Tamworth Road, Long Eaton; Co-Operative stores in Draycott, Sawley, and Sandiacre; a Select convenience store in Sandiacre; Tesco in Long Eaton and a One Stop shop in Borrwash.
Miss Evans said: “Twice on the same day, shortly before noon and again before 3pm, the defendant walked into Farmfoods, in Long Eaton, and both times took food and drink items.
“On each occasion the value of the goods stolen was not particularly high and the total value of everything stolen was just shy of £750.
“He was stopped by police following the last shop theft on May 2 and after being arrested it is fair to say Mr Werkowski-Freeman made full admissions about the offending.”
Werkowski-Freeman pleaded guilty to 15 counts of shop theft.
'To fund heroin addiction'
George Smith, mitigating, said his client carried out the “spontaneous” shop thefts to fund his heroin addiction.
He said: “Mr Freeman is a frequent visitor to these courts and his instructions to me are that he first started offending when he became addicted to heroin.
“He has tried on a number of occasions to get clean and he tells me that, when he was released from his last prison sentence, he was not set up properly to deal with the outside world.
“He first went to live with his mother but she suffers from Alzheimer’s and he had to leave that house and found himself homeless.
“He then hit a downward spiral.”
