Crack addict banned from stores after theft spree and burglary of pensioner's home
He received a four-year Criminal Behaviour Order
A nuisance thief who stole from a series of shops and then targeted a pensioner’s home has been jailed.
Drug addict Thomas Laffey was also given a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) to keep him away from the stores he targeted.
He appeared at Leeds Crown Court this week where he admitted the dwelling burglary, along with 10 offences of shoplifting and one of breaching a restraining order.
In early June the 30-year-old stole from Co-op in Ossett and Horbury, B&M in Ossett and Prospect Service Station in Ossett.
He took chocolate, washing products and vacuum cleaners.
But in the early hours of July 15, he went the home of a 78-year-old man whom he knew to say he was there to return money he owed.
He then threw a paving slab through his glass door and distracted the resident before snatching the man’s wallet and fleeing.
The wallet was later found ditched, with Laffey having taken £50 of the £70 it contained.
Laffey, formerly of Stithy Street, Ossett, was arrested but gave a no-comment interview.
He has 43 previous convictions for 151 offences, including multiple thefts and burglaries.
Mitigating, James Littlehales said Laffey was brought up in care and had an addiction to crack cocaine.
He said that Laffey, who appeared in court over a video link from HMP Leeds, knew that custody was “inevitable”.
Judge Andrew Stubbs KC told Laffey: “You have had a dreadful life, you were brought up in care.
“This sentence will give you chance to come out and make a difference.”
He gave him a sentence of 876 days - around 29 months.
He was also given the four-year CBO banning him from the shops he stole from. It means he can be fast-tracked back to prison should be breach the order.