Man sentenced in connection with theft and shoplifting offences in Southampton

A 42-year-old man has been sentenced following incidents of theft, shoplifting and public order in Southampton city centre.

On Sunday (14 January) officers were alerted by Go! Southampton security staff that a man who police wanted to speak to in connection with theft and shoplifting offences was in the Poundland store on Above Bar Street.

Officers attended and the man became verbally abusive towards them.

Myles Filose, of no fixed abode, was arrested and subsequently charged with the following offences:

• Theft of a pedal cycle, in connection with the theft of a bicycle from an address in the Redbridge area on November 25 2023.
• Theft from a shop, in connection with the theft of a tent worth £60 from the Trespass store on Above Bar Street on January 11 2024. Shop staff were verbally abused during this incident.
• Two counts of using threatening/abusive/insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment/alarm/distress in connection with his actions towards Trespass shop staff, as well as police when he was arrested.

He appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Monday 15 January), where he pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to four months in prison.

Police Sergeant Carl Peverill, of Southampton’s City Centre Unit, said: “Local businesses are telling us ever-increasingly that they are being significantly impacted by offenders such as Filose – we are hearing this and taking action. Stealing property, either from an individual or a business, is simply not acceptable and staff should not have to fear abuse while at work.

“The city centre unit was set up in November to tackle offending of this nature – we will continue our focused efforts to support local businesses and shop staff by tackling theft and other offences against them.

“I am pleased that this case was brought before the court and that Filose will face some consequences for his actions. We will focus our activities on preventing these types of offences occurring and ensuring the courts have the full facts on which to sentence those who commit such crimes. Our overall aim is to ensure that residents and shop workers can go about their business free from the risk of abuse or assault.

“Please keep reporting incidents to us via 101 or online, if we don’t know about it we can’t help. You can also come and speak to patrolling officers in the city any time.”