Southampton man sentenced for shoplifting and knife possession offences
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A Southampton man has been sentenced in connection with a string of shoplifting incidents and knife possession in a public place.
James Robert Hillier, 32, of Landguard Road, was arrested following an incident on August 19th of this year. It was reported that a man had entered the Tasty Plaice Fish & Chip shop on Portsmouth Road and made threatening comments to those inside. He then became confrontational towards a security guard at the nearby John’s Road Co-op store and was seen in possession of a knife shortly afterwards in the Colonnade car park.
While in the car park, he also spat at a man in his 50s and punched a man in his 40s several times in the face.
Officers attended and arrested Hillier at a nearby address on suspicion of two counts of assault and possession of a bladed article. He was also later arrested on suspicion of four counts of theft in connection with shoplifting incidents at two Co-op stores.
On July 7th, August 6th and August 13th various items including several packs of cider and beer were taken from the Co-op store on Millbrook Road West. A member of staff was also assaulted on one of the occasions, sustaining minor injuries.
On August 12th cider and various other food and drink items were taken from the Co-op on Shirley Road.
Hillier was subsequently charged with these offences, as well as being charged with failing to comply with notification requirements contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, for failing to register a new address, breaching an existing suspended sentence order.
Hillier appeared at Southampton Crown Court on Wednesday (20 September) where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Police Constable Cameron Dobby, who led the investigation, said: “Hillier thought it was ok to walk around Southampton intimidating and threatening people, as well as taking whatever he wanted from local stores, assaulting staff in the process. This type of behaviour is simply not acceptable and won’t be tolerated by police.
“This type of criminality causes misery to local businesses and the community and I hope that this sentence demonstrates that we will take shoplifting and its associated criminality seriously.
“We are committed to reducing this type of offending and associated anti-social behaviour, while providing a visible presence to reassure and support residents and businesses. As always, we encourage anyone with concerns to approach patrolling officers or to report any incidents online or by calling 101.”