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A prolific thief who stole an e-scooter from a college in Peterborough has been jailed.
Police were called to Peterborough College in Eastfield on 7 June after a student’s e-scooter had been stolen from the college grounds. CCTV footage captured the offender, later identified as Thomas Smiley, 34, jumping over a wall and taking the padlocked scooter.
Two weeks later on 21 June, police were called out to Budgens in Sugar Way, Woodston, with reports of a violent shoplifter. The man, who was again identified as Smiley through CCTV, had tried to steal seven crates of Red Bull and assaulted a member of staff in order to escape when he was confronted by them.
Smiley, of no fixed address, was arrested on 3 July after CCTV operators tracked him from Peterborough city centre to Thorpe Road and alerted police after knowing he was wanted for numerous offences.
He was charged with six offences and appeared at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (4 July), where he was sentenced to four weeks in prison in addition to being recalled for a further 62 days. He has also been ordered to pay £100 in compensation to the e-scooter victim and £50 in compensation to the assault victim after admitting all charges:
PC Tom Rice, who investigated, said: “Assaults on anyone are not acceptable, let alone retail staff who are just trying to do their job - no one should be subjected to this treatment in the workplace.
“I would like to thank both victims and the businesses for reporting these incidents to us which allowed us to identify and arrest Smiley, putting him back before the courts. To allow us to continue identifying those causing the issues and arresting them, I urge businesses to continue reporting any incidents to us, regardless of the value.”