Shoplifter jailed for 20 months after admitting thefts in Fareham, Warsash, and Park Gate.

A 46-year-old woman has been jailed for 1 year and eight months following a number of shoplifting incidents in Fareham, Warsash, and Park Gate.

On Wednesday 1 January 2024 officers located a Ford Mondeo with no insurance at the Esso garage on Kingston Road in Portsmouth. Further enquiries led to the driver, Deborah Holmes of no fixed address being charged with seven shoplifting offences.

She entered guilty pleas at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Thursday 2 January and was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 31 January.

Between 26 October 2024 and 18 December 2024 she stole items totaling more than £1,500 during seven separate incidents from the Co-Op’s on Highlands Road In Fareham, Warsash Road, and Bridge Road in Park Gate, and the BP garage on Bridge Road in Park Gate

Our Neighbourhood Policing Team is continuing to target shoplifters and we will be relentlessly pursuing those that are violent to staff or are repeat offenders. 

To help protect your business:

• Make sure staff are able to use any appropriate security equipment such as panic alarms.
• Make sure CCTV cameras are in good working order, the position provides the best possible coverage and they are serviced annually.
• Remind staff to report any suspicious activity to the manager or the police. Details should also be recorded and include: date, time, description of person.

The community are our eyes and ears and we encourage you to report all incidents as soon as you are able to by calling 101 if it’s not an emergency.

You can also report suspicious activity online by visiting our website: https://www.hampshire.police.uk

If a crime is in progress, always call 999.