Shoplifter who targeted supermarket chain 16 times is jailed

A “career shoplifter” who targeted a supermarket chain 16 times and carried out seven burglaries across Cambridge has been jailed.

Louis Kidd, of no fixed address, stole items including meat, alcohol, coffee and chocolate from two Co-op stores in Milton Road, Cambridge, on 16 occasions between 11 September and 5 November.

The 38-year-old also broke into an Asda warehouse at the Beehive Centre in Cambridge on six occasions between 31 May and 24 October and Gopuff, in Chesterton Road, on 30 May.

Kidd was sentenced to two years and three months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court yesterday (8 April) after pleading guilty to 16 counts of theft and seven counts of business burglary at a previous hearing.

He was also given a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order preventing him from entering any Co-op in Cambridgeshire.

District Judge Louise Sillis described Kidd as a “career shoplifter” who has had every chance to address his offending in the past. She said he had a “lamentable” record and entered into “a campaign of theft” to feed his drug addiction.

She also described shoplifting as an ‘epidemic’ with losses being passed onto law-abiding customers.

PC Laura D’Urso, from the Spree Offender Team, said: “We continue to patrol Cambridge in plain clothes and uniform on a daily basis in order to bring people like Kidd before the courts. As a force we also work closely with partners to deal with individuals who are committing these crimes to support their vulnerabilities, addictions or homelessness.”