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14
Mar
Prolific thief jailed after targeting shops in Harrogate
A notorious thief is back in jail after yet another shoplifting spree left even the Probation Service with no option but to recommend a prison sentence.
Steven Bainbridge, 35, from Ripon, targeted the Infinity & Co Boutique shop at Harrogate’s Victoria Shopping Centre and Trespass, the outdoor-clothing store in James Street.
He stole a £165 coat from the boutique jewellery-and-clothes store in Commercial Street and a rucksack worth just under £60 from Trespass on Wednesday, March 12. He was later arrested and the items were recovered.
Bainbridge, of The Shepherdies, North Stainley, was charged with two counts of shop theft and appeared at York Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Thursday) when he pleaded guilty to the offences.
He had already admitted a separate shop theft at a Tesco Express store in Scarborough. That offence occurred in June last year when he stole £13 of Stellar Artois lager.
The offences were in breach of a 12-month conditional discharge he received in January for burglary and theft. He received the discharge primarily because he was already in jail for other matters.
In October last year, Bainbridge was given a 16-week jail sentence for previous shoplifting offences. This followed a 14-week prison sentence in January 2024 for other matters.
His lawyer Georgina Fishwick said that Bainbridge’s lengthy criminal record was fuelled by a long-standing drink problem.
A pre-sentence report by the Probation Service noted the Ripon man’s “persistent” thievery, “particularly theft of alcohol”.
The report’s author stated that Bainbridge “doesn’t seem motivated to change” and that they could “only recommend a custodial sentence”.
District judge Adrian Lower cited Bainbridge’s “shocking” record and labelled him a “prolific offender”, adding: “It comes to something when the Probation Service can’t think of anything to say when it comes to a (non-custodial) recommendation.”
He told Bainbridge:
This is very sad. You have a shocking record of stealing from shops, all fuelled by an addiction to alcohol.
He said that Bainbridge had been trapped in a vicious cycle of “going stealing, getting arrested, coming to court, going to prison, coming out again, going stealing, and so on – it’s a revolving door”.
Mr Lower jailed Bainbridge for 12 weeks but told him he would only serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.
Bainbridge was ordered to pay full compensation to Tesco Express for the theft of the alcohol which was never recovered.
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