A “persistent” shoplifter has been jailed after stealing almost three dozen bottles of wine from a Tesco Express in Devon.
Lucy Hanks, 37, of Bitton Park Road in Teignmouth, pleaded guilty to four thefts, breach of a suspended sentence order and a court order, and possession of methadone at Exeter Crown Court this week.
The court heard how Hanks stole 17 bottles of wine twice on the same day in March 2024 – breaching her bail conditions.
She later broke her bail conditions once again by shoplifting food from the same Tesco in April.
Lucy Hanks stole almost three dozen bottles of wine from a Tesco Express in Devon
DEVON AND CORNWALL POLICE
“Her crimes affected shop staff and show her to be a persistent and significant shoplifter,” said Teignmouth neighbourhood beat manager Robbie Mangham.
Her drug offence took place on 30 October at another supermarket – a Tesco Extra in Kingsteignton, where officers found Hanks in possession of methadone without a prescription during a “domestic incident”.
Police arrested Hanks approximately four weeks after her March wine thefts.
But she later went on to target the Teignmouth Tesco Express again in April, this time stealing food.
MORE TESCO TROUBLE:
Hanks later went on to target the Teignmouth Tesco Express again in April
“Hanks continued to target and steal from the same shop regardless of the conditions imposed upon her,” Mangham added.
Her sentencing comes as Britain’s supermarkets face down a shoplifting “epidemic”, with billions of pounds forced to be spent on crime prevention by retailers.
Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said on Tuesday: “Retailers have invested £1.2billion into crime prevention over the past year, but more needs to be done by police and the Government.
“Police must give retail crime greater focus, dedicating more resource to attending reported incidents, and the Government must make passing the standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker a priority.
“Everyone deserves to go to work without fearing for their safety.”
But staff at retailers across the country have been forced to endure brazen criminality for years.
Just weeks ago, a shoplifter who threatened to stab staff with dirty needles at a Tesco was jailed for 35 weeks after committing multiple thefts across Cambridge.
While a few months prior, a pair of masked and hooded thieves were filmed boldly stealing from a supermarket in Reading, Berkshire – footage of which can be viewed here.