Gosport and Fareham retail menaces pay for £1,500 worth of stolen goods with jail time

Retail menaces Maya Brown, 25, and 39-year-old Luke Stapley went on a stealing spree between April and November last year where they helped themselves to a range of items from chocolate to laundry detergent, alcohol and even a hoover. Appearing at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court both defendants were jailed for 40 weeks each to bring relief to beleaguered stores that were raided.

Brown and Stapley, both of Gosport Road in Fareham, were charged with multiple counts of shoplifting, and pleaded guilty to the following offences:

• Brown & Stapley both admitted theft of £234.47 worth of food and laundry detergent from Spar in Tukes Avenue, Gosport on 28 April 2023.

• Brown & Stapley both admitted theft of £204.55 worth of food from BP in West Street, Portchester on 15 May 2023.

• Brown & Stapley both admitted stealing bedding and a hoover totalling £76.98 from The Range in Gunners Way, Gosport on 1 July 2023.

• Brown & Stapley both admitted theft of £262.85 worth of chocolate from Co-op in Stubbington Green on 30 August 2023.

• Brown & Stapley both admitted theft of £366.40 worth of meat from Marks and Spencer in Brockhurst Gate on 14 October 2023.

• Stapley admitted theft of £126.35 worth of alcohol from Alexander Hadleigh Wine Merchants in Locks Heath shopping centre on 31 October 2023.

• Stapley admitted theft of £83 worth of alcohol and food from the Shell garage in Southampton Road, Titchfield, on 7 November 2023.

• Brown admitted theft of £77.80 worth of food from the Shell garage in Southampton Road, Titchfield, on 7 November 2023.

• Brown admitted theft of £84.50 worth of wine from Co-op in Dartmouth Court, Gosport, on 16 November 2023.

Chief Inspector Chris Spellerberg, District Commander for both Fareham and Gosport, said: “The perception that shoplifting is not a victimless offence couldn’t be further from the truth. Retail workers are part of our communities and I recognise that repeated shoplifting in particular creates an environment of fear for many retail workers, leaving them to feel unsafe in their own workplaces. This is not acceptable. Retail workers should be free to go to work without fear of being threatened, intimidated and attacked, or have to watch this type of behaviour taking place. “In addition to this, store owners losing products to thieves means that they not only lose the profit margin, but the entire value of the product. This in turn will impact prices for consumers.

“Neighbourhood Policing Teams put victims first by responding to and investigating thefts from shops, targeting shoplifters, and we will be relentlessly pursuing those that commit crime, are abusive or violent to staff, or who are repeat offenders like Stapley and Brown. Our aim is that people not only are safe but feel safe.

“Officers also work closely with other partner agencies including support services for those whose offending cycle is driven by other factors such as drug and alcohol dependency. The more people are entrenched in substance misuse the more desperate they will be to get their fix and we need to break that reoffending cycle.

“We will continue to focus on retail crime so that we can address the concerns of the local community, and build trust and confidence across the retail sector that if crime happens in their store we will respond.”