‘Failure’ jailed for own good
Woman stole from church, hospice, charities, shops of all kinds ... 116 offences
A shop thief and burglar who had the unerring knack of always getting caught is finally behind bars.
Donna Mitchell, 40, had been a “thorough nuisance” to Scarborough shopkeepers for many years but was given chance after chance by the courts to stay out of jail.
The drug addict and alcoholic was renowned for her gargantuan thieving habit and targeting charity shops - but York Crown Court heard that her long-standing criminal career was nothing short of an abject failure.
In one recent shoplifting episode, the heavily-convicted S woman left a shoe store with two right-footed boots - one size four and the other size 11.
In a separate incident, she walked into a couple’s home on Livingstone Road wearing a pair of white sandals and skipped out wearing a pair of ladies’ slippers - straight into the hands of a waiting police officer who also seized a leopard-print coat.
Mitchell received a suspended prison sentence for the burglary, which occurred in August last year, but continued to target stores in Scarborough during a crime spree in which she stole votive candles and a donation box from St Peter’s Church in Castle Road. She was later seen throwing rocks at the collection box in an attempt to smash it and take the donations inside, said prosecutor Michael Cahill.
She was before the courts again in September when a judge spared her prison despite a catalogue of thefts, opting instead for a community order. On that occasion, Mitchell made no secret of her fear of going to prison, but despite the let-off she was soon at it again. She appeared at the Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for her latest crime spree, which included numerous thefts and breaching a suspended sentence. Mitch- ell, formerly of Kealia Court and Alga Terrace, admitted all the offences.
Mr Cahill said that in the early hours of August 28, Mitchell stole two charity bags full of clothes from outside St Catherine’s Hospice store in Scarborough. Following another theft at Wilkinson’s Scarborough branch two months later, police found her with stolen hair dye and a bag of Diazepam. She was given bail but the following day she stole a pair of socks from The Works in Westborough. In June, she stole clothing from the British Heart Foundation store.
Her barrister Andrew Semple said that Mitchell who has 59 previous convictions for 116 offences, mainly theft - now “sadly” believed the only way out of her drug purgatory and thieving habit was a stretch behind bars.
Jailing Mitchell for 22 months, Judge Andrew Stubbs QC her she was a “complete nuisance to the shopkeepers and law-enforcement officers in Scarborough”. £10 PRIZE WINNERS 057295 044245 086639 003189 081913 032123 008070 081079 051595 004425 004121 000953 025619 029739 086475 005885 070197 047105 042521 055553 088632 035245 067259 030761 009299 015474 024329 058191 070053 024467 021267 040113 020273 005377 077791 046995 009923 017043 068439 002149 085979 039783 046447 003065 049037 035705 065213 051291 018325 001373