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A serial thief is back behind bars after being described by a judge as "a menace and a threat" to society.
Gareth Owen was banned from Co-op and Sainsbury's stores in Herne Bay and Whitstable and so pilfered from shops and homes in a third town instead.
He stole a little under £6,000 worth of supermarket products as well as a laptop, tools and a bicycle over a three-month period last year.
In October 2021, he was handed a three-year criminal behaviour order by magistrates prohibiting him from four branches of the two supermarkets in Herne Bay and Whitstable.
But five months before that ban's expiry date, Owen was back to his old tricks, this time embarking on a prolific crime spree in Faversham.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that between May 8 and August 11 last year he stole from the town's branches of Co-op, Boots, Poundland, Tesco's, Morrisons Daily and Sainsbury's, as well as Upstairs Downstairs Antiques and Collectables.
Some shops were targeted twice in the same day and his loot, ranging in value from £31 to just over £900, included meat, alcohol, cheese, household and washing products, cosmetics, coins and jewellery - prompting a judge to remark he did not "steal out of need".
Under the cover of darkness, Owen also stole a bicycle worth £370 from a garden, and a laptop, alcohol, designer sunglasses and tools totalling £2,500 from a garage and van.
These thefts were captured on Ring doorbell and CCTV, enabling police to identify him from the footage.
Owen, who has been in custody on remand since his arrest, later pleaded guilty to 31 offences of theft and appeared for sentencing yesterday (January 28).
The court heard that the crook, who has 38 convictions for 90 offences dating back 30 years, was now drug-free and had gained enhanced prisoner status.
But any suggestion by his barrister Charlotte Oliver that he could now be given a chance to rehabilitate himself in the community with a suspended sentence order were squashed.
Jailing Owen, formerly from Whitstable but now of no fixed address, for two years and eight months, Recorder John Gallagher spoke of the detrimental impact of his conduct on homeowners, businesses, staff and customers alike.
"You are in my judgment a hardened recidivist. There is no realistic prospect of rehabilitation at the moment. You have no interest or desire for such," he told the thief.
"Possibly, and hopefully, you will motivate yourself or continue to motivate yourself towards rehabilitation. But I'm not satisfied you show that at this stage.
"You are a menace to the public. It can be put no other way and, quite frankly, you are a threat. You are responsible for a huge amount of upset, disturbance and loss, and you know that full well.
"In your case, nothing has ever worked. You have never taken advantage of any of the chances given to you and there has been, as recently as 2020 onwards, a depressing continuance of theft from shops time and time again and, as I have said, nothing works.
"I refer to you being a threat and I mean that. Not in a physical assault type of threat but from the harm and upset your victims suffer."
Owen was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228 within days of his release.
District Chief Inspector Vanessa Foster, from Kent Police, said: “This criminal has been stealing to fund his drug addiction without any consideration for the impact of his actions on the businesses.
“Employees at our town centre shops work hard to earn a wage and it must be very dispiriting to see these offenders steal thousands of pounds worth of property.
“Our neighbourhood officers are determined to bring these persistent thieves to justice and Owen can be certain he will be subject to a some close scrutiny when he is eventually released from prison.”