Notorious Sheffield shoplifter jailed after breaking court order and stealing in Ecclesfield and High Green

A shoplifter whose anti-social behaviour made him notorious in the north of Sheffield has been sent to prison.

Callum Ripley, of no fixed address, was arrested on Tuesday morning for two offences of theft and two breaches of a criminal behaviour order (CBO) in Ecclesfield and High Green.

A CBO is an order designed to tackle the most serious and persistent anti-social individuals where their behaviour has brought them before a criminal court.

The anti-social behaviour to be addressed does not need to be connected to the criminal behaviour, or activity which led to the conviction.

Ripley was charged and remanded in custody before appearing before Sheffield Magistrates' Court yesterday, where he was jailed for 18 weeks.

Sergeant Matthew Cook, from South Yorkshire Police's Ecclesfield Neighbourhood Policing team, said: "Shoplifting is not a victimless crime and has a big impact on the shops and the staff who work there. We will continue to target those individuals who commit these offences and use all the powers available to us such as a CBO to stop offenders and bring them to justice."

The sentence comes after official figures revealed a surge in the number of shoplifting crimes recorded in South Yorkshire last year.

Office for National Statistics figures showed about 11,400 shoplifting offences were recorded by South Yorkshire Police in the year to June – up from 8,596 in 2022.

James Lowman, Association of Convenience Stores chief executive, said: "Convenience retailers are facing unprecedented levels of theft against their businesses at the hands of prolific offenders who are targeting stores repeatedly without fear of reproach."

"These incidents take a huge toll on retailers and their colleagues, so it’s crucial that every incident reported to the police gets investigated."