Thief banned from EvERy store in the city centre
MUM JAILED FOR SHOPLIFTING
A PROLIFIC shoplifter has been banned from EVERY shop in Manchester city centre, The Rock in Bury and Manchester Fort after racking up more than 50 offences for theft.
Mother-of-two Amy Atherton, 42, had already been forbidden from entering all stores owned by retail tycoon Mike Ashley – including Kendals, Debenhams and Sports Direct – with pictures of her put up behind the tills at a number of shops.
She has now been jailed for nine months – and banned from dozens of shops in Manchester and Bury under the terms of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) – after punching and biting a security guard at Kendals.
If Atherton enters one of the stores, she will be in breach of the order and could be jailed for up to five years.
Manchester Crown Court heard Atherton, from Blackley, was stopped by a security guard on her way into Kendals on Deansgate on December 17. At that point, she had already been banned from all of Mr Ashley’s stores.
He asked to look in her bag, which contained perfume stolen from Boots.
Atherton is such a prolific shoplifter that her photograph is on the wall of a number of stores to alert security staff, prosecutor David James told the court.
After being approached by the security guard, Atherton said: “F ****** move. I want to go. I haven’t got anything.”
She continued to be verbally abusive, the court heard, before threatening to stab the guard and a colleague who came to help.
When the member of staff refused to let Atherton leave, she lashed out, punched him and fell over. As the guard stood over her, Atherton bit him on the arm. After being arrested, police also found she had a wrap of heroin. The court heard Atherton had 89 previous offences to her name, including 53 for theft. Mr James said she had a tendency to target perfume departments. In a previous incident, she bit a security guard at Boots in The Rock after being caught stealing. The court was told that she apologised for her behaviour, and that she welcomed the CBO as she tries to turn her life around. Atherton has battled addiction, at her worst spending £200 a day on drink and drugs, and was shoplifting to fund her habit, the court heard.
You have wrought havoc over the years by stealing goods Judge Patrick Field QC
Sentencing, Judge Patrick Field QC told her: “You were verbally abusive and violent.
“The security guard was simply trying to do his job.
“It’s a sad reflection upon your history that you have behaved in this way several times before. This behaviour is wholly unacceptable.”
Speaking about the CBO, the judge added: “You believe it will help you, because it will keep you away from shops.
“You have wrought havoc over the years by stealing goods.”
Atherton, of Ruthin Avenue, Blackley, pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and another count of possessing heroin.