Rayleigh: Shoplifter arrested, charged and jailed within 24 hours
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A man who admitted shoplifting in Rayleigh was arrested, charged and jailed less than 24 hours after committing the offence.
Dominic O’Sullivan of Hitchin Close, Romford, pleaded guilty to three counts of shoplifting when he appeared at Southend-on-Sea Magistrate's Court on Thursday 18 April and was jailed for 21 weeks.
The 42-year-old admitted three counts of shoplifting at the BP garage, London Road, Rayleigh, during April. The value of food and drink taken amounted to a total of £645.
O’Sullivan was arrested on the last occasion, Wednesday 17 April, after staff witnessed he had concealed cans of alcohol before leaving the shop.
Staff alerted an on-duty police officer who was at the garage, who then followed O’Sullivan.
When stopped, O’Sullivan admitted to the officer that he hadn’t paid for the items and he was arrested shortly before 3.30pm.
On each of the occasions O’Sullivan was wearing an orange high-visibility jacket.
'Shop theft not a victimless crime'
Police Sergeant Paul Restall, of Rayleigh's Local Policing Team, said:
"Business theft is not a victimless crime and we will do all we can to support the business community by arresting and bringing offenders before the court.
"In this case, thanks to the alertness of staff who told our officer, it was less than 24 hours between Dominic O’Sullivan committing the crime and being sentenced at court."
Victims' code
At Essex Police we put victims at the heart of everything we do. The Victims’ Code explains the rights that everyone can expect to receive as a victim of crime, and helps us define what we must do for all victims from their initial contact with our force until the conclusion of their case.
Find out more about the code and to understand the rights of a victim of crime, on our Support for victims and witnesses of crime page.
To report a crime, please use our digital 101 service. In an emergency call 999.
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