20 months' jail for repeat shoplifter Thomas Mellor who stole trolley-loads of goods from Tesco in New Milton

A PERSISTENT shoplifter has been jailed for 20 months for stealing trolley-loads of goods from a New Milton supermarket to fund a drug habit.

Thomas Mellor (42) admitted three separate charges of stealing alcohol and clothing from Tesco, once in December last year and twice in February.

Prosecutor Tim Devlin told Southampton Crown Court that during the first theft a shop assistant saw Mellor leaving the store with goods in a trolley without making payment.

CCTV later showed Mellor had taken bottles of alcohol worth £270.

On 13th February, he returned and was seen by staff “loading up” another trolley with several bottles of alcohol and clothing worth a total of £1,500.

Mr Devlin said Mellor again left the store without paying and was later identified when staff reviewed CCTV footage.

Mellor went back to the store five days later and was seen by staff taking bottles of alcohol that were not “tagged up” yet, and two pairs of women’s jeans, worth a total of £785.

He again left without paying and was identified using CCTV.

Mr Devlin said Mellor, who had 94 previous convictions for 249 mostly similar offences, had stolen goods worth a total of £2,555 from Tesco.

While he was in the dock, Mellor admitted the thefts put him in breach of three separate community orders imposed by courts in Dorset for offences including battery and possession of cocaine and heroin.

Mitigating, Damien Hayes said: “The bottom line here is drugs. He has been addicted to class A drugs for the last 20 years and he has the record to prove it.

“The offences he has committed have mostly been committed to pay off drug debts and to fund his ongoing habit.”

The court heard Mellor’s parents funded six weeks of rehab for him in May 2021, and this “appeared to have borne fruit” at first.

But his mental health then “declined” and he returned to drug use and offending by September 2021.

Mr Hayes said Mellor, a trained barber originally from Birmingham, was “supported” by his parents who were in court.

He added: “Suffice it to say, they are extremely upset to find themselves back in this situation again.”

The court also heard Mellor, of Westover Road, Bournemouth, deserved credit for pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Handing down a 20-month jail term to cover all offences, including the community order breaches, Judge Christopher Parker said: “You’ve had every intervention possible to try to assist you.

“You’ve been assisted hugely by your long-suffering parents who are here today and must be entirely dismayed at what you are doing to yourself and to them.”