A PROLIFIC Oswestry thief who stole more than £1,000 worth of goods through a series of offences to fund his drug addiction has been jailed for two months.
Justin Owens, of no fixed abode, appeared at Telford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, March 22 via a video link from HMP Hewell where he is on remand by Shrewsbury Crown Court.
He had previously pleaded guilty on February 10 to a number of offences including burglary, after entering a building as a trespasser in Eden Court, King Street, and stealing a washing machine and a tumble dryer of a value unknown, on February 2, this year.
Owens also admitted on the same date to failing to attend an initial assessment for the presence of Class A drugs on January 23, this year.
He also admitted stealing household products and food, to the value of £175, from Heron Foods in Oswestry on January 28, and stealing chocolate from a Co-op store in the town on January 31.
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Owens also pleaded guilty to stealing £100 worth of washing products from B&M, shampoo and conditioner to the value of £50 from Boots, and air fresheners to the value of £100 from Poundland – all between February 1 and 4.
From February 5, Owens stole more air fresheners – this time from B&M – to the value of £140, while on February 6, he stole Fairy Unstoppables to the value of £76.89, also from B&M.
Owens also pleaded guilty to stealing an unknown value of groceries from Co-op and £142 worth of coffee, also from the same store between February 6 and 9.
All the offences took place in Oswestry.
The defendant also faced four charges of failing to answer court bail, plus two further counts of theft from October 21 to 23, 2022, where he stole two perfume gift sets and two gift sets, with a combined value of £365 from Boots in Oswestry.
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He also admitted in January to assaulting a woman in Oswestry.
Kate Cooper, defending, told the court that drugs were "a huge issue and he was stealing to fund his addiction," but added that Owens was now on a methadone script.
Jailing him, magistrates said that the offences taken together were enough to warrant a custodial sentence which was reduced because of his early guilty plea.
They said: “We do feel in totality the offences do cross the custody threshold.
“The most serious of the offences is the burglary and we impose a sentence of 12 weeks reduced to eight weeks after your early guilty plea.
“The rest of the offences will each be six weeks, reduced to four, to run concurrently.”
He was also ordered to pay £750 in compensation, with no costs or victim surcharge, as none of the items he stole, costing around £1,150, were ever recovered.
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