Thief admits raiding same Solihull B&M store over 30 times - stealing tuna, coffee and beer

A thief has pleaded guilty to raiding the same B&M shop 31 times and stealing more than £5,000 of goods.

Jamie Lattimer, 33, targeted the Shirley B&M store knowing the security guard was off, Birmingham Magistrates' Court was told.

The court heard how he simply walked in, picked an aisle, stuffed a handful of goods in a bag and left - sometimes carrying out the same basic trick up to three times a day.

The 33-year-old's largest single haul contained 72 charging cables worth £864. He also stole coffee, beer and a sizeable haul of cleaning products.

Lattimer stole:

During the same spree he targeted a nearby Aldi on two occasions - stealing more than £280 of meat.

Lattimer, who previously lived on the same road as the shops, Stratford Road, but now of Kingswood Road, Moseley, attended Birmingham Magistrates Court on Monday (19 December) and admitted 31 charges of theft from a shop in relation to B&M.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two similar offences in relation to the Aldi incidents. All of the thefts took place between 18 August and 16 September - when he was finally caught.

Prosecutor Zulqarnain Saeed said: "All of the 31 offences are from B&M in Solihull. You will see that there were a number of thefts on the same day. On each occasion the defendant walked in through the front entrance, very nonchalantly with a bag under his arm or stuffed under his jacket, and basically gone to a specific aisle, bent down, put stuff in the bag and gone out the store again. He's not gone around the store.

"The security officer was off for about three months. They had no security officer at the entrance or exit. The defendant must have known this."

Mr Zulqarnain confirmed the total value of goods stolen from B&M was £5,114.09.

Edward Ball, defending, explained Lattimer had no history of shoplifting until he became addicted to drugs.

He said: "What has happened, unfortunately, when he came out of prison he got in with the wrong crowd who introduced him to heroin. All of these offences were committed in furtherance of that particular problem.

"He was remanded in custody which actually helped him get off class A drugs. He was released in October under onerous terms on bail. He has engaged with Change Grow Live trying to deal with those problems."

Lattimer's previous bail conditions included a 17-hour curfew from 5pm to midday the following day and an order not to attend any B&M shop. The magistrates committed the case to Birmingham Crown Court for sentence on January 16.

They agreed to relax the curfew to 12 hours from 5pm to 5am.

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