A man who committed more than 20 shoplifting offences has been jailed following an investigation by Thames Valley Police.
Ian Greenwood, 37, of Court Farm Road, appeared at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (July 22) where he was sentenced to two years and one month in prison.
He pleaded guilty to 23 counts of theft from a shop and one count of possession of a Class A drug, namely Heroin at a hearing at Oxford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday 16 July.
Between May 5 and July 15 this year, Greenwood stole chocolate, cheese, meat, alcohol and ice cream worth more than £4,600 from Sainsbury’s and Co-op stores across Oxford, targeting the Co-op on Rose Hill 14 times.
On Tuesday 15 July officers on proactive patrol in Littlemore spotted Greenwood on Cowley Road and arrested Greenwood in connection with the shopliftings. He was also found in possession of heroin and further arrested for possession of Class A drugs.
He was charged the following day on July 16.
Investigating officer Police Constable Lisa Ordidge, of Cowley’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, said, “This sentence sends a clear message that persistent shoplifting will not be tolerated.
“Greenwood has shown a blatant disregard for the law and for the businesses and staff he repeatedly targeted.
“We hope this sentence brings some reassurance to our local retailers and the wider community. We will continue to work closely with our partners to tackle repeat offenders and protect our High Streets.”
This comes a day after new crime figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed a sharp rise in police-recorded shoplifting offences. In the year to March 2025, offences increased by 20 per cent, reaching 530,643, which is up from 444,022 the previous year.
This is the highest figure recorded by the ONS since the figures started being collected in this way in 2003, continuing a trend of record-breaking levels of theft.