'Last chance' Spalding shoplifter avoids jail sentence

The decision not to jail a Spalding shoplifter who committed another theft while on a suspended sentence has been branded a ‘bad joke’.

The case of Teresa Jane Wilson has been held up as a prime example of why the court system is failing to tackle the problem of serial shoplifters.

Wilson (50), of Long Wharf, Double Street, admitted to stealing £30 worth of chocolate from WH Smith on April 2 when appearing at Boston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

District Judge Peter Veits was told that she was already subject to a 10 week prison sentence suspended for a year in December last year.

That suspended sentence was handed out for a string of 20 shoplifting offences that related to the theft of items totalling more than £1,000 combined.

The thefts spanned a period from October 2018 to November last year and took place at a host of stores across Spalding - including B&M Stores, Superdrug, Sainsbury’s and Charmed Interiors with items stolen including frozen steak, toys, bedding and boots.

However, Judge Veits said he would not be imposing the suspended prison sentence as there was ‘some hope for her’ but told her this was her ‘last chance’.

Business Watch Co-ordinator Stuart Brotherton, who looks after the district’s shopwatch scheme, said: “How many more lives does a cat have?”

A fortnight ago, we reported how Mr Brotherton is calling on the Government to review the way such cases are handled.

He feels the current system is doing nothing to prevent people from re-offending and is letting shoppers and shopkeepers down and believes Teresa Wilson’s case demonstrates the failings of the courts.

He said: “I have to say she hasn’t come to our notice of late, which may indicate that whoever is working with her might be doing her a favour.

“That said, why have suspended sentences if you are not going to stick to the rules?

“That’s why it’s called suspended - it’s hanging over your head so that if you do it again you are going to prison.

“When is this going to stop?

“It’s a bad joke”

He added: “Does a suspended sentence count for anything? That’s the point. Why give something like that if you are not going to stick to it?”

Mr Brotherton, a retired police officer, said that another serial offender was caught by police just last week but was released by the courts on Wednesday - much to the frustration of police officers.

He said: “That afternoon he went walking into Sainsbury’s where the staff were open mouthed.”

In last Wednesday’s court case, Michael Alexander, in mitigation, said she had a ‘chaotic lifestyle’ but had only started committing offences in 2018, when she was 47.

He said that all her offences were drug related and there was a ‘whole range of mental health issues in the background’ for which she was involved with a number of different agencies and she had most recently provided a negative drugs test.

Judge Veits added six weeks to her suspended sentence and ordered her to pay costs of £85.