Derbyshire crook with 110 offences pilfered over £1,200 of Hugo Boss clothes

Lee Shipman, 36, stole jackets worth nearly £770 and T-shirts valued at £500 from Pro Sports Equipment in Shirebrook during three raids between September and December last year.

He also pilfered pork joints worth £200 from Aldi on January 24 this year and was serving a suspended sentence for various other offences at the time.

A Crown prosecutor told Derby Crown Court none of the items the defendant stole were recovered, while Shipman had 30 previous convictions for 110 offences.

Jailing him for 40 weeks, Judge Jonathan Bennett told Shipman his record was “horrendous”.

Shipman’s barrister Lesley Pidcock said he had resorted to thieving after losing benefits payments while swapping from Universal Credit to the Personal Independence Payment after being diagnosed with anxiety, depression and PTSD.

While the claim was being processed the defendant’s state benefit was reduced to £83 a month – leaving him with just £16 a month to survive on after paying rent.

Ms Pidcock said her client’s mental health problems arose after he was attacked with a hammer while homeless and asleep in a sleeping bag.

She added: “He has struggled with homelessness and his offending is not drug-related.”

Shipman, of Langwith Road, Langwith Junction, admitted four counts of shop theft and breaching a suspended sentence.

Judge Bennett told Shipman: “I recognise you have had some difficulties but you were not stealing for sandwiches or a few tins of soup – you were taking high value items.”