A prolific shoplifter stole a a haul of items including Lego, Yankee candles and beauty products worth more than £2,500 during his latest spree of offending, a court has heard. At the time of the retail thievery Joshua Yeo was subject to a suspended prison sentence for previous offences of shoplifting.
Swansea Crown Court heard Yeo has 130 previous convictions on his record including dozens of thefts and offences of shoplifting. Sending the defendant to prison, a judge said he had an “appalling record” and that “the time has come for the people of Swansea not to have to put up with people like you thieving in the way you have been”.
David Singh, prosecuting, told the court that during May, June and July 2024 the defendant carried out eight thefts from shops in Swansea – seven from Tesco and one from B&M Bargains – stealing items worth a total of £2,620. Among the items taken were bottles of alcohol, beauty products, Lego sets, small electrical goods, Yankee candles, and detergent pods for washing machines. The court heard Yeo was identified as the thief by police officers who viewed CCTV footage from the stores.
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Joshua Yeo, of Bowen Street, Hafod, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to eight counts of theft when he appeared in the dock for sentencing via videolink from prison. He has 64 previous convictions for 130 offences including attempted robbery, burglary, handling stolen goods, and 38 of shoplifting committed between 2003 and 2024. At the time of the spree before the court he was subject to a prison sentence of four weeks suspended for 12 months imposed by magistrates for four thefts from a shop. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
Jon Tarrant, for Yeo, said Yeo’s was a face familiar to him over a number of years and said the defendant’s offending had been “repetitious”. He said the defendant he had spoken to in conference before the sentencing hearing was “a very different individual” from the person he had dealt with over the years, and said the difference seemed to be down to staff at Swansea Prison who had identified certain issues in his client which could be addressed and who had arranged for a psychiatric intervention which had resulted in the defendant being appropriately medicated with amitriptyline. The barrister said it was accepted the defendant’s antecedent record was an aggravating factor but he said there were now “signs of optimism” for Yeo.
Judge Huw Rees said he was sure that, free from heroin and in the cold light of day, the defendant could be a reasonable person but that Yeo had an “appalling record” of offending, noting the courts had given him “opportunity after opportunity” in the past. He said he hoped Yeo continued to make progress in custody and said he was not going to impose a sentence which would “crush” the defendant but that “the time has come for the people of Swansea not to have to put up with people like you thieving in the way you have been”.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Yeo was sentenced to two years in prison for the new offending. The judge activated the previously imposed one-month suspended sentence in full and ordered it to be served consecutively making an overall sentence of 25 months. The defendant will serve up to half the 25 months in prison before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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