Prolific Swindon thief with sweet tooth jailed for 59 weeks

Darren Moore, of no fixed address in South Marston, admitted to 18 counts of theft and one assault by beating charge at Swindon Magistrates Court on November 30.

The 33-year-old stole laundry products worth £52 from Wilko on July 30, 2023, then took three bottles of TVO spirits worth £33 altogether from the North Swindon Orbital Shopping Park Asda on September 26, and two hot bakes and a drink worth £10 from Morrisons on October 11.

He then started a shoplifting spree by stealing laundry tablets worth £50.45 from the Beechcroft Road Co-op on October 24.

On October 25, he stole two coats worth £350 altogether from JD Sports, shoplifted various goods worth £44.80 from a shop on Brayden Court in Penhill on October 29, then returned to JD Sports on Halloween to steal two North Face jackets worth £350.

Darren Moore (Image: Wiltshire Police)

He focused most of his attention on a Swindon Tesco Express, where he stole confectionery worth a total of £474 across several visits.

First, he shoplifted four Yankee candles and some chocolate to the value of £100 on November 12, returned on the same day to take £64 worth of further chocolate, did not pay for chocolate worth £112 on November 16 and then returned again on November 18 to steal the same value of chocolate before coming back the next day to steal chocolate worth £50, and taking chocolate worth £36 on November 22, 2023,

From the same supermarket, he also stole coffee and a pack of Fridge Raiders worth a total of £37.50 on November 17, meat of an unknown value on November 25, and £60 worth of items on November 27.

During the rest of this spree, Moore stole two bottles of alcohol worth £26.50 from a Swindon Iceland on November 15, a £99 hoover from the Ocotal Way Tesco Extra on November 18, aand laundry products worth £47 from a Swindon Co-op on November 19.

He also admitted to assaulting a police officer in Swindon on October 18.

He had previously received a suspended prison sentence which activated after he was convicted of these newer crimes, which are considered to be so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified, and he has a previous criminal record for similar offences.

For these reasons, Moore has now been sent behind bars for a total of 59 weeks, receiving prison sentences of 21, 13, 13, and 12 weeks respectively for his various crimes.