'˜Shops need a rest from you,' judge tells Sunderland thief as he jails him for 109th offence

Scott King, 37, from Sunderland, also admitted twice assaulting shop staff who were trying to detain him as he fled with his loot.

On one occasion he had stolen more than £1,000 worth of fragrances from a Boots store, and he also stole booze and toys worth hundreds of pounds from Sunderland.

Prosecutor Jon Harley told Teesside Crown Court that King tried to bite a security guard at a Primark store in Sunderland on October 21, when he was detained and all the goods recovered.

On the same day he stole toys worth £252 from Toys R Us in the city.

Earlier, on September 7, he stole a bottle of vodka from Tesco Extra on Roker Park Retail Estate, and when he turned his attention to Teesside stores he stole £1,013 worth of fragrances from Boots on Teesside Park on December 9.

Mr Harley said that other shoppers assisted a member of Boots staff who had been assaulted by him in his effort to escape. Nick Lane, defending, said that King had been battling a drug addiction, but he stopped taking his medication and he began shoplifting again.

King, of Aldershot Road, Sunderland, appeared for sentence over a videolink from Durham Jail.

Judge Tony Briggs told him: ”You committed four offences of shoplifting and two assaults on staff trying to detain you when you were doing your wholesale shoplifting.

“The shopkeepers of the North East deserve a rest from your activities.”

King was jailed for two years and the judge told him that he would be under supervision on his release, adding: “If you offend again it is likely to be more than two years.”