Two jailed and one in custody after cops target prolific shoplifters

Chelsea Rose (31) and Gemma Mitchell (29) are now behind bars after admitting thefts at a One Stop in Balby and a Sainsbury's store in Doncaster city centre last month.

Rose, of Milton Court, Hyde Park, was seen by officers hiding three boxes of biscuits and 13 jars of coffee in plastic bags last Monday (October 30) before leaving the One Stop store.

She was accompanied by Mitchell who was wanted for a theft offence which took place two weeks earlier on October 16 at Sainsbury's.

On that occasion, Mitchell, of East View, Bawtry, managed to stash £100 worth of items into two carrier bags before leaving without paying.

She was arrested alongside Rose and both were later charged with theft and failing to provide a drug sample.

The following day, they appeared before Doncaster Magistrates' Court and both were sent to prison, with Rose given a nine-week sentence and Mitchell jailed for four weeks.

As part of the same operation at the One Stop store on October 30, James Cawkwell was arrested after he was caught on CCTV stuffing chocolate bars into his pocket.

Cawkwell (41) of Rosegreave, Barnsley, went to the till with different items and made an attempt to pay.

When his card was declined, he left the store where he was arrested by two plain-clothed officers.

He was charged with that theft and a separate shoplifting offence which took place at the same store the day before (Sunday, October 29).

Cawkwell also appeared before Doncaster Magistrates' Court last Tuesday (October 31) and pleaded guilty to both offences.

He has been remanded into custody and will appear before the same court on December 5 for sentencing.

The operation to target shoplifters took months of planning and was coordinated with One Stop after a spree of thefts affecting the business.

It involved one officer viewing CCTV inside the store who would alert plain-clothed officers waiting in cars outside to arrest suspects.

The operation was headed up by Doncaster Response Team Constable Liam Fowkes, with support from the retail crime team.

PC Fowkes said: "We know shoplifting is a scourge on our communities.

“It’s a crime we will not tolerate and we have operations in hand to proactively seek out thieves and stop them in their tracks as shown by the three convictions secured following an operation at One Stop in Balby.“We want shoplifters to know that we are watching them and we are onto them.

“We could be in the store at any time watching and I hope this operation acts as a clear deterrent to anyone trying to steal from local businesses trying to earn an honest living.“Shoplifting is not a victimless offence and each day we are gathering more and more intelligence on prolific offenders.

“We want our communities and businesses to know that we will continue to protect business from harm and bring shoplifters to justice."