Prolific shoplifter jailed

A serial shoplifter who turned violent when challenged has been jailed.

Russell Emmerson Dixon threatened staff at several different stores in Spennymoor as he made off with hundreds of pounds worth of coffee and laundry tablets over several days in April.

During one incident he punched a shop manager in the head several times.

The 32-year-old also smashed the window of a home in Spennymoor and when officers tried to arrest him, he bit both, breaking the skin and leaving them needing tetanus jabs.

On Thursday (May 15) he pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm, assault by beating of an emergency worker, assault by beating, four counts of theft and attempted theft.

Dixon, of no fixed abode, was jailed for a total of two years and eight months as well as being ordered to pay £228.

Dixon joins fellow prolific shoplifter Reece Brown, 39, who was jailed for 11 months on Saturday after a spate of thefts in Easington Colliery. He had only been released from prison days earlier.

And two further men were also stopped in their tracks by officers from Peterlee Neighbourhood Policing Team for several shoplifting offences over this last week. Both were arrested, charged and remanded to be put before the courts.

The number of recorded shoplifting cases has been reduced by 16 per cent in the last year while the number of cases successfully solved has risen from 32.6 per cent to 57.8 per cent.

Neighbourhood Inspector Pete Newman said: “Our team relentlessly pursues shoplifters like Dixon and we will continue to put him back before the courts every time.

“We hope these sentences gives our communities some respite from these criminals and our message is clear: we will never stop pursuing criminals who try to bring misery to where you live.”