Aldi thief threatened staff with needles after being told to leave store
A shoplifter who stole almost £1,000 worth of items from a supermarket and threatened workers with needles has been jailed.
Mark Moss, 36, carried out a string of crimes across shops in Cambridgeshire, before being arrested on November 26.
He admitted to theft, assault and making threats to destroy property.
Moss had been asked to leave Aldi by staff after he had been caught stealing on previous occasions.
In response, he intimidated staff with needles, threatened to smash up one of the supermarket worker’s cars, and spat at another.
The police were called, who then located Moss near his home, arresting him on suspicion of assault.
He was later further arrested while in police custody in connection with 13 thefts from Co-Op and three thefts from Pets Corner.
Two days later, Moss was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £210 in compensation to Pets Corner and £1,040 to Co-Op.
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He pled guilty to 17 separate offences, comprised of 16 counts of theft and one count of failing to provide a sample for a Class A drugs test upon arrest.
On January 2, Moss appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court where he was sentenced to an extra four weeks in prison, in relation to the incident in Aldi.
The 36-year-old was also given a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).
Under the terms of the order, Moss is prohibited from entering Co-op in Eye High Street and Aldi in One Retail Park, including both of their car parks.
PC Bradley Bucknell, who investigated, said: “Moss’s behaviour has been brazen, stealing from local businesses and threatening staff who tried to stop him. He showed no remorse for his actions but hopefully will have some time to reflect in prison.
“Due to the volume and repeat offending, we applied to the courts for a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) to be put in place which imposes strict conditions on Moss. If these are breached, it is an arrestable offence which could result in further time in prison.”
On January 2, a pair of prolific shoplifters who frequently stole from shops also in Cambridgeshire were jailed.
Scott McSpadden, 39, and his partner Tanya Momot, 31, were caught stealing four bottles of “knock-off Bailey’s” in a shameless crime spree in a market town.
The pair, who have combined 120 criminal offences against their names, are banned from entering shops together.
In their latest scheme, McSpadden was caught on camera walking into the supermarket and loading four bottles of the £19.96 liquor into a shopping bag.
He then quickly pulled a runner, with Momot, who was on look-out outside, proceeding to hold the door open for him.
A member of staff ran after them, but their attempts were futile.
The next day, the duo stole nine hair straighteners, 10 heated hairbrush sets and eight fruity bath fizzers worth a total of £197.71 from B&M.
The pair were arrested on December 18 and have now been jailed after appearing at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on December.
McSpadden was jailed for 28 weeks, while Momot was jailed for 16 weeks.