A shoplifter has been spared jail after carrying out 18 thefts in which took more than £1,100 worth of goods. The items have never been recovered, but Cory Swannell has been ordered to pay back every penny.
The 26-year-old took the items from various Leicester shops between summer and December last year. Swannell’s victims included Tesco stores, Co-ops and the Downing Drive Local store in Downing Drive, Evington, Leicester.
Most of the thefts were caught on CCTV. Some of his crimes which were committed in November and December 2024 were undertaken after he had been arrested for shoplifting and released on bail.
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Outlining the case at Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday (January 9), prosecutor Tracy Lovejoy said: “The number of thefts indicate a level of planning”. She said the crimes were serious enough to lead to a sentence of up to six months behind bars and suggested the magistrates make unemployed Swannell pay compensation to the stores.
However, Kulveer Tind, representing Swannell, told the court his client was trying hard to beat his addiction to Class A drugs and needed the support of the Probation Service, rather than time behind bars. The Probation Service had prepared a report about Swannell, of Croyland Green, Thurnby Lodge, Leicester, suggesting ways they could help him if he wasn’t jailed.
The Downing Drive Local was among the shops targetted by Cory Swannell
(Image: Google)
Mr Tind said: “The pre-sentence report is comprehensive and addresses the issues Mr Swannell is dealing with – his addiction and mental health issues. The underlying issue is his substance misuse. He has no previous convictions for similar offences. I’d ask you to follow the recommendations of probation to allow him to address the underlying factors.”
He said Swannell was receiving Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments but was only getting £10 per day due to his “mismanagement of finances”. The chair of the bench, Rachel Udein, said the magistrates would follow the Probation Service recommendations but would also order Swannell to pay back the full sum of the items stolen – £1,102.40.
She told Swannell: “We are going to follow the recommendations in the report. You’ve got to get this knocked on the head. You want to get it sorted and we want to get it sorted, too.”
Swannell was given a 12-month community order with 20 days on Probation Service programmes, along with a six-month drug rehabilitation scheme, as well as the compensation order.