JUDGE WARNS PROLIFIC THIEF OF ‘LIFE OF MISERY’ AS HE IS JAILED
Criminal’s spending spree with stolen card
PROLIFIC thief Shaun Aspinall stole a purse from a woman’s car and then went on a shopping spree with her credit card.
Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard the 40-year-old fraudulently used the Tesco card to gain more than £480 worth of items within hours.
But he was caught after police viewed CCTV footage from the supermarket chain’s Hanley store.
It showed him trying to swipe stolen goods through a self-service checkout.
Now Aspinall has been jailed for 14 months for a total of 17 separate offences.
Elizabeth Power, prosecuting, said the credit card’s owner had parked her car near her home on June 11.
“Inadvertently, she had left her handbag and purse inside the vehicle, in the footwell,” she added.
“The following morning, at 6.45am, she saw the boot of the vehicle was open.
“She went to investigate and found the purse was gone. She found the contents of the purse in a neighbouring street.”
But one key item was missing – the card. It transpired the woman had also kept her pin number in the purse.
Despite the card being cancelled, Aspinall stacked up several purchases before a transaction for £691 was declined.
His victim later managed to get her bank to refund the money.
Appearing at crown court this week, Aspinall pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud by false representation, six counts of theft, one offence of damaging property, and another charge of taking a vehicle without consent. The defendant, of no fixed address, was also committed to the court for sentence for four counts of theft and an assault on an emergency worker.
The shoplifting was committed at Next, in Festival Park, and a Co-op store in Ubberley Road, Bentilee.
Ms Power said he repeatedly targeted the Next branch with an accomplice, where they stole several sets of bedding.
“Given the items, whether they were stolen to order has to be questioned. They are odd items to take from a store,” she added.
Meanwhile, the assault on the emergency worker took place after Aspinall stole six bottles of cider from the Co-op.
Staff saw him put the alcohol into a carrier bag and leave without paying. They alerted a police officer in a marked vehicle nearby.
She went to apprehend him, but he dropped the bag and tried to escape. After being caught, Aspinall struck the officer’s face and bent back her right hand.
The property damage charge related to a separate incident where a concrete slab was thrown at the window of an electrical store. Forensic evidence linked the slab to Aspinall’s DNA.
The court was told he has 18 previous convictions for 76 offences.
Rebecca Da Silva, mitigating, said he’d managed to steer clear of reoffending for some time.
But his life then ‘spiralled out of control’ after he relapsed into taking drugs.
He also suffered a number of personal difficulties, including being badly injured when a drunk driver ran him over.
But Ms Da Silva added: “He does not want to make any excuses. He knows what he has done. He holds his hands up.” Jailing him, Recorder Jason Macadam said: “If you carry on this way, a life of misery for you and everybody else you come into contact with is what’s going to happen. No one wants to see that.”