A prolific Basildon shoplifter has been jailed for breaching a countywide ban on entering BP garages and committing more thefts.
Jon Lee, 40, was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on 13 May to a total of 30 months in prison.
“Lee is a prolific offender who thought he could defy a court order banning him from entering BP shops,” investigating officer Sergeant PC Craig Phoenix, of Basildon Local Policing Team, said after the hearing.
“But our officers caught up with him and, following an extensive investigation, he’s now been jailed for ignoring a chance that the court-imposed two-year criminal behaviour order offered him to mend his ways.”
Lee had previously admitted 32 counts of shop theft between 24 September 2024 and 5 January 2025 – 29 from BP garages including East Mayne in Basildon, Cranfield Park Road, Wickford, Orsett South and Orsett Cock on the A13 near Stanford-le-Hope and London Road, Benfleet; one from B&Q in Howard Way, Harlow; one from Sports Direct in Braintree; and one from John Lewis in Bond Street, Chelmsford.
Lee, of Powell Road, had also admitted 29 breaches of a two-year criminal behaviour order issued on 26 June 2023, which forbade him from entering any BP service station in Essex.
In all, the court heard, his thefts, which ranged from a £720 electronic stove and £315 hair-stylers to two Keralan lamb curry meals and a pack of mini bites, totalled around £4,000.
Lee was also ordered by the court to pay a £228 victim surcharge.
Criminal behaviour orders are designed to tackle the most serious and persistent anti-social individuals where their behaviour has brought them before a criminal court.
CBOs also tackle the underlying causes of offending and, where appropriate, require offenders to engage in treatment services, such as drug and alcohol addiction support.
It is an offence to breach the terms of a CBO and courts can impose a jail term or a fine, or both, for an adult convicted of breaching them.
