A prolific shoplifter who terrorised town centre businesses has been locked up.
Dean Taylor, 39, struck at seven different Accrington stores over a five-month period, including Tesco, Asda, Wilkinsons, Iceland, B&M Bargains, Farmfoods and Matalan, a court heard.
On one occasion he tried to hide luxury fragrances down his tracksuit bottoms and in another incident he attacked a security guard with a clothing rail after he challenged him at the shop exit.
Taylor, of Wellington Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to 10 counts of shoplifting and one count of common assault while subject to a suspended prison sentence order.
He was jailed for 59 weeks.
Peter Barr, prosecuting, told the court how Taylor was ‘well known’ to security guards at all the targeted shops and in some cases was on their ‘Shop Watch’ list.
The court heard how Taylor’s shoplifting spree started on March 30 when he stole £102 worth of fresh beef and lamb joints from Iceland.
The defendant was the spotted in the Matalan store on Hyndburn Road on April 25 with another woman taking a rucksack of a display shelf and stuffing it full of clothes.
When security staff tried to stop him at the exit a ‘scuffle’ developed and the woman made off with the clothes worth £208.
Mr Barr said Taylor was then taken into a security office where he struck an officer to the head with a clothing rail before managing to ‘wriggle free’ and flee the store.
Taylor targeted Wilkinsons on April 28 and May 24, making off with two drills worth £100 and other electrical DIY goods.
The court heard how on May 11 he entered the Tesco Extra store and selected Eternity, Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein fragrances worth £107 before going into the changing rooms.
Mr Barr said he then opened the plastic security boxes and ‘secreted the fragrances on his person’ before leaving the store undetected.
Taylor then tried the same routine again the next day by hiding two bottles of DKNY worth £100 down his tracksuit bottoms. When he was challenged by security staff at the exit he ran off.
The court heard how Taylor also struck at B&M Bargains on May 18 stealing £30 worth of food, and Asda on May 15 where he made off with four handheld devices worth £216.
'Local shopkeepers need protecting from you' - Judge
Judge Simon Newell said shopkeepers needed protecting against Dean Taylor’s ‘persistent’ offending.
The court heard how Taylor has 43 previous convictions for 82 offences, including 39 theft offences.
Sentencing, he said: “Time and again there have been offences of shoplifting met with limited sentences and, in the main, one’s that try and assist you with your drug addiction.
"You are now approaching 40 and the offences have continued and escalated in their persistence in the early and middle part of this year.
“In those circumstances the court has to take a realistic view and it has to protect local shopkeepers. There has to be a deterrent sentence.”
Richard Taylor, defending, said they were ‘unsophisticated offences’ and Taylor was ‘absolutely desperate’ and in a ‘poor condition’ when he was finally arrested.
The court heard how Taylor had been trying to self-medicate away from drugs and avoid using methadone, however it ‘proved to be totally wrong and impossible to achieve’.
Mr Taylor said: “You have before your honour a 39-year-old who presents as confused and troubled.”
