Is this Britain's most brazen shoplifter? Crook stole nearly £13,000 worth of ... trends now
A brazen shoplifter stole nearly £13,000 worth of goods from Co-op and One Stop shops, shamelessly hitting the same store four times in a single day.
Rhys Mansell, 37, struck 26 times in just 29 days at the two chains, stealing £5,035 worth of items.
He also hit a single Co-op outlet 38 times, costing them £6,510 in stolen items.
Mansell's shoplifting spree went on for eight months before he was caught, with the thief totalling 71 offences, a court heard.
He stole a 'broad range' of items including alcohol, food and household items, typically filling a bag before leaving the shop unchallenged and seemingly without fear of being caught.
None of the goods could be recovered as the thief is believed to have sold them to fund his drug habit.
The case comes as new statistics revealed shoplifting has hit a 20-year record high in England and Wales.
An Office for National Statistics survey showed more than 430,000 offences were recorded last year, up more than a third on the previous year and the highest figure since current police records began in 2003.
Rhys Mansell, 37, (pictured) stole nearly £13,000 worth of goods from Co-op and One Stop shops
Mansell hit a single Co-op outlet 38 times, costing them £6,510 in stolen items
Retailers said the recent figures represent just a fraction of the true number of incidents, with many not reported to police because of the time it takes and the lack of follow up from officers.
Mansell either worked as part of a gang or on his own, targeting mostly Co-op stores in the Bournemouth area, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.
Ned Sillet, prosecuting, said: 'He stole a broad range of items - alcohol, food or drink, to more general items like laundry detergent. Fifteen of the offences he acted as part of a group of two or three people.
'They occurred all times of day, from as early in the morning as 8am and as late as 11pm. Each occasion involved walking into the shop, concealing items in a rucksack, bag for life or similar bag and leaving without attempting to pay for the goods.
'In the offences with others they all move into separate aisles of the shop to carry out the thefts.'
Between March 2023 and January this year, he was guilty of 45 offences across several Co-op stores, a Tesco Express and One Stop.
With these offences, 20 were committed as part of a group of between two to four people.
Mr Sillet said: 'On at least one occasion, shop staff tried to retrieve items by grabbing his bag. There was a brief struggle but he managed to break free and leave with the goods.'
In total Mansell admitted 75 offences across 53 cases, with the non-shoplifting offences being one non-dwelling burglary, possessing a knife in a public place and two offences of failing to surrender to custody.
