A thief who flouted a ban from all BP garages in Essex has been jailed after a string of thefts from the service stations.

Jon Lee, 38, of Powell Road, Basildon, admitted stealing hundreds of pounds of beer, meat, deli items and deserts from the town’s BP shops in Eastmayne and Nethermayne and another in London Road, Hadleigh between September 10 and November 7 last year.

He also admitted to stealing £650 of goods from B&M Stores at Southend Airport on September 5.

Basildon Crown Court heard on February 7 how Lee was subject to a criminal behaviour order imposed in June 2023 which banned him from all BP service stations in Essex for three years.

In all, Lee admitted 16 counts of shop theft and 11 breaches of the criminal behaviour order.

He also admitted to bringing or conveying a ‘list A’ prohibited article into Chelmsford Prison on August 6 2022.

A prison officer spotted him passing a package of cannabis to a prisoner he was visiting at the time.

Lee was jailed for a total of 30 months – 18 months for the criminal behaviour order breaches and 12 months for the cannabis offence. A two-month sentence for the shop thefts was ordered to run concurrently. An order was also made for forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis.

PC Alex Plakhtienko, from the specialist business crime team, said that Lee had continued to offend prolifically despite being given a chance to mend his ways: “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. Offenders’ behaviour can affect staff and customers in the shops they target and we in the Business Crime Team work with retailers and staff to prevent this.

“Through our Open For Business, Closed For Crime campaign, we encourage staff to report incidents of abuse and violence so we can take action and put offenders before the courts.”

“And we have a duty to protect all victims of crime from repeat offenders. One way we can do this is by applying to the courts for criminal behaviour orders, which impose certain restrictions and requirements intended to prevent someone re-offending.

“However, breaching such an order can result in a prison sentence, as Lee discovered when he appeared before the judge.”