By Henry Green
A Nottinghamshire thief has been jailed after helping himself to around £150 worth of advent calendars.
Warren Staniforth went on a theft spree in October, helping himself to Advent calendars, steaks and cigarettes, Notts Police say.
Seven separate stores scattered across the county found themselves targeted by him over a number of weeks.
Staniforth’s offending started with the Co-op in Carrington, Nottingham, on October 15 as he went behind the counter and stole cigarettes.
The next day, he stole chocolate buttons from Tesco in Bobbers Mill.
In the days that followed, Staniforth stole packs of steaks, prawns and sweets from the Co-op stores in Sherwood and Carrington.
Staniforth then ended the month by stealing from four more shops as he stole around £150 worth of Advent calendars, as well as bottles of booze and large quantities of coffee on October 30. He was caught and questioned by police soon after.
He was later also linked with other offences including filling a bag with £400 worth of steak from a Kirkby-in-Ashfield store on July 30, and repeatedly using credit cards that had been reported stolen.
Staniforth, 39, would go on to be charged with eight counts of shop theft, a burglary, and two counts of fraud by false representation – things he later admitted to in court.
Staniforth was also found guilty of stealing a smart phone after breaking into a vehicle parked in Berridge Road, Forest Fields, on 26 July.
He appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced on Thursday (7 November), where he was jailed for 24 weeks.
Staniforth, of no fixed address, was also ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation to the owner of the phone he stole.
