Wanted Doncaster shoplifter jailed after spree of thefts

Leon Bell, aged 42, was arrested after plundering over £700 worth of products from Tesco and Boots stores in the Wheatley area of Doncaster.

He stole a random assortment of items, including blocks of cheese, hair straighteners and men's toiletries, with Bell targeting the same two stores on multiple occasions.

With store managers recognising him as an offender and with his crimes caught on CCTV, Bell, of Beckett Road, Wheatley, was eventually arrested by officers and charged with eight thefts.

He pleaded guilty to every shoplifting offence he was charged with and was sentenced to 48 weeks in prison at Doncaster Magistrates' Court last Friday (2 February).

Sergeant Steve Roberts, of Doncaster Central Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "Bell was targeting the same stores - sometimes multiple times a day.

"He probably thought he was getting away with the thefts, but our dedicated retail crime team were building a case on his many shoplifting offences.

"Bell has now been given quite a hefty sentence for shoplifting and I hope shops and their staff can feel safer knowing he is behind bars."We won't allow thieves and shoplifters to profit from retail crime in our city and we will continue battling to secure justice and convictions against those who seek to pile misery on retailers in Doncaster."

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