A MAN from Colwyn Bay who committed multiple thefts in quick succession in Rhos-on-Sea, Abergele and Rhyl has been jailed.

Craig Judge, 39, of Princes Drive, was sentenced to 84 weeks’ imprisonment at Mold Crown Court today (August 2).

He had previously admitted seven counts of theft from a shop, five charges of breaching a criminal behaviour order (CBO), and further offences of criminal damage, burglary, and theft of a pedal bicycle.

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Prosecuting, Richard Edwards told the court that, on May 4, Rennie Smith contacted police to report that his bike, worth £400, had been stolen.

Judge was arrested that day for unrelated matters, and was found with the bike in his possession.

Then, on June 8, Judge entered the Co-op store on Colwyn Avenue, Rhos-on-Sea, and stole one can of Jack Daniel’s and Coke, worth £2.50.

Entering the store in itself was an offence, given it represented a breach of the CBO Judge had been issued with on April 17 for previous thefts.

He returned to the same Co-op store on June 26, when he stole football stickers, and took cigarettes and tobacco worth £270 from behind the shop’s counter.

On the same day, he stole meat and three bottles of Jack Daniel’s, to the value of £63, from the B&M store in Rhyl.

The following day, he stole 44 Pokémon cards and a Lego Porsche set worth £339.99 from Smyths Toys in Llandudno.

Judge then stole £20 worth of food from the same Co-op store in Rhos-on-Sea on July 1.

He returned there again on July 3, when he stole two cans of Jack Daniel’s and Coke; on this occasion, he was challenged by staff, but refused to return the items.

On July 4, at The Original Factory Shop in Abergele, Judge and another male were seen dismantling a swing chair outside the store.

The shop’s manager ran after Judge, but he cycled away, dropping several items as he did.

It transpired that two hoovers and three air fryers had been stolen, while the damage to the chair meant it could no longer be sold.

Judge had 123 previous court appearances to his name for 309 offences, the vast of which related to dishonesty matters.

Representing him, Anna Price said his offending is largely “drug-related”, with Judge having developed a dependency on heroin.

She said he commits offences such as these to “fund his addiction”, and also suffers from anxiety and depression.

Ms Price also noted that, as evidenced by his guilty pleas, Judge “put his hands up at the outset to what he had done”.

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Petts told Judge: “It’s clear that you’re stealing to fund a long-standing drug addiction.

“There isn’t much that can be said for you, unfortunately.”

Judge will pay a statutory surcharge upon his release from prison.