A prolific shoplifter who stole from local Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi branches has been banned from every store in Lancashire.
Andrew Ritchie, 29, from Leyland, engaged in a string of thefts across the county.
The 29-year-old specifically took meat, poultry and protein bars from shops in the South Ribble town.
He was arrested on February 10 by Lancashire Police following reports of thefts across the popular supermarkets.
Andrew Ritchie, 29, from Leyland, has been jailed for 14 weeks
Lancashire Police
Last month, Ritchie pleaded guilty to charges of two counts of theft from a shop and two attempted thefts at Preston Magistrates’ Court.
He was sentenced to three-and-a-half months in prison.
During a separate hearing on March 5, the 29-year-old was handed a two-year CBO Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).
The CBO means he cannot enter or attempt to enter any Tesco, Tesco Extra or Tesco Express store, any Morrisons, Morrisons Daily or Morrisons Local, any Aldi store or any The Range store.
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Last month, Ritchie pleaded guilty to charges of two counts of theft from a shop and two attempted thefts at Preston Magistrates’ Court
Wikimedia Commons
The ban covers all the above named stores in Lancashire and is in effect until March 5, 2027.
Lancashire Police & Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw said: “As Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, I will continue to work alongside the Chief Constable to establish a more proactive approach to shoplifting, with better protection for shop workers and improved relationships between retailers and the police.
“The public need to know that in the event of a crime such as shoplifting, the police will come, and the crime will be punished accordingly.”
In January, the annual crime survey from the British Retail Consortium revealed that there are on average 55,000 thefts a day in the UK.
Tesco store in Leyland, Lancashire
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A total of 492,914 shoplifting offences were logged by police forces in the year to September 2024, marking a 23 per cent increase from 402,220 in the previous 12 months, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The figure represents the highest total since current records began in March 2003.
Police recorded 1.8 million theft offences overall in the year to September, showing a two per cent increase primarily driven by shoplifting.
Home Office data reveals that of the 473,342 police-recorded shoplifting offences, only 19 per cent resulted in a court summons.
The British Retail Consortium has warned that shoplifting is “spiralling out of control”, with staff facing assault, weapons threats, and racial and sexual abuse.
