A SHOPLIFTER who was caught on CCTV brazenly stealing dozens of items and abusing shop workers has been jailed.

Michael Murray, 33, of Percival Terrace in Brighton, had previously pleaded guilty to 33 counts of theft and one count of failing to comply with a community protection notice.

Thirty-one of the theft offences took place at a Co-op store in Whitehawk Road during May, June, November and December last year, while the other two were at the Hollister store in Churchill Square.

In some instances Murray would return to the same store multiple times in a day and made no attempt to hide his crimes from store staff.

The Argus: Michael MurrayMichael Murray

When confronted, he would often become aggressive and subject them to physical and verbal abuse.

On Thursday, December 16, 2021, Murray was captured on CCTV entering the Whitehawk Road store with an empty carrier bag which he filled with meat products in full view of a shop worker, before leaving the store without paying.

In November last year, Murray was issued with a Community Protection Order restricting him from entering the Whitehawk Road Co-op following other reports of repeated shoplifting.

He was found to have breached the order a number of times, often returning to steal more products.

At Lewes Crown Court on February 25, Murray was sentenced to 16 months in jail and issued with a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order, banning him from all Co-op stores in Brighton and Hove, the Asda in Brighton Marina and the whole of Churchill Square shopping centre.

Chief Inspector Andy Westwood said: “This conviction came about thanks to some really impressive teamwork between our neighbourhood policing and response officers, Detectives, Business Crime Team and our partners in the business community.

“Business crime such as shoplifting has a financial impact, but what often goes unseen is the difficult, intimidating positions shopworkers are put in, particularly when the thefts are committed as brazenly as Murray’s.

“As a force we carry out a huge amount of work to tackle business crime, introducing measures to make reporting easier, identifying and catching repeat offenders and working with various partner agencies to tackle the root causes of this behaviour.”