A THIEF travelled to Penrith with his associates to steal trolley loads of “high value” goods from the town's Sainsbury's store.

But 34-year-old Liam Prudhoe, who targeted expensive alcohol such as Champagne and single malt whisky during his two visits to the store, avoided jail after a judge was told he has kicked his drugs habit and sought help for his mental health.

The defendant admitted the theft of goods worth more than £5,000 and an attempted theft of produce worth almost  £1,500.

The court heard that the first offence, the higher value theft, happened on February 12 after the defendant and his associates arrived at the store by car, with Prudhoe going into the store five times to collect the goods he wanted to steal.

“He selected high-value goods, mainly alcohol, Champagne and single-malt whisky,” said the prosecutor. Prudhoe also stole children’s clothing. He was identified after the theft by CCTV images and recognised by staff because of his previous visits.

The total value of the stolen goods was £5,130.

Prudhoe returned to the same store on February 29, again travelling there by car with his associates. On that occasion, he selected goods wroth £1,449.

But this time, said the prosecutor, store staff intervened and there was a pursuit on foot of the defendant, who fled along Lowther Street, Penrith. “He jumped over a gate and disappeared,” said the prosecutor.

Prudhoe was found a short time later in the car park of the Marks & Spencer store in Penrith. The court heard that he has 41 previous offences on his record.

They include “multiple thefts” as well as breaches of court orders. There is also a burglary and a criminal damage on his record.

Lucy Todd, defending, said there was no evidence that Prudhoe played a leading role in the “supermarket sweep” style thefts and he had committed the two offences at a “time of crisis in life.”

“He admits he went along for the ride,” said the barrister.

“This is not sophisticated offending. There have been gaps in his offending – between 2011 and 2017 and he has only recently started to reoffend against a background of losing his work and going back to drugs misuse.

“He slipped into the wrong crowd.”

Since the two offences, said Miss Todd, Prudhoe had showed determination to tackle his issues, seeking medical help for anxiety and depression and working with a drug recovery agency to become drug free.

Supported by his family, he hopes to return to his work as a joiner. Miss Todd added: “He’s shown extensive remorse.”

Judge Nicholas Barker said that Prudhoe was clearly driven by financial benefit to drive to the Penrith store from his home at Hylton Castle Road, Sunderland.

“The impact of shop thefts on businesses is significant, whether they are a large national chain such as Sainsburys or an small independent store,” said the judge.

The impact of such offending is passed on all of us in increased costs. The judge added: “It may well have come about over the years that shop theft is seen as less serious.

"It is not.”

But Judge Barker noted the defendant’s efforts to change his lifestyle and the progress he had made while serving a subsequently imposed suspended sentence.

Despite the offending deserving custody, Judge Barker said it would be wrong to interrupt that progress by locking Prudhoe up.

He imposed an eight-month jail term suspended for two years. The defendant has 19 rehabilitation activity days to complete from his earlier sentence.