A COUPLE with a history of brazen shoplifting offences have been sentenced again after stealing or attempting to steal hundreds of pounds worth of goods from Powys supermarkets.

Dean Ludlow and partner Jade Roxanna Cambridge each appeared separately at Welshpool Magistrates’ Court this week to answer multiple charges relating to thefts from Tesco and Morrisons in Newtown. The incidents took place over two separate days in February this year.

The couple, of Church Street, Kington, entered Tesco and Morrisons in Newtown on both February 6 and February 12 this year, loading their trolleys up with various items, before leaving without paying.

On each occasion they abandoned the trolleys when police arrived but made off with items they’d already packed into their vehicle.

Ludlow, 50, admitted two charges of attempted theft and two charges of theft, as well as driving while disqualified and driving without insurance at the hearing on Tuesday, August 23.

Cambridge, 36, admitted three theft charges and one attempted theft.

Prosecutor Helen Tench said the two attempted thefts Ludlow admitted occurred on February 6 and 12, where he had abandoned trolleys in Morrisons containing goods worth £625.45 then £506.47. The theft charge Cambridge admitted to was the February 6 trip.

“There were straightforward thefts from a shop,” said Ms Tench.

“PC Lawton identified the defendants from CCTV on both occasions. They had used a green Land Rover on both occasions. The defendants were present at the store and had filled the Land Rover with groceries.

“When Jade Cambridge saw officers approaching, she indicated to the defendant (Ludlow), he turned around and abandoned the trolley."

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Sarah Yates, representing Ludlow, who appeared via videolink from HMP Hewell, in Worcestershire, where he is currently serving a custodial sentence for shoplifting, said her client was “ashamed” of what he’d done.

“He is a man who’s had a terrible drug addiction for 10 years, he has not been able to break the vicious cycle,” she said.

Ludlow was sentenced to a year in jail in June this year for a previous set of offending, which had involved the couple stealing from a Powys garden centre on two separate occasions in April.

“He is due to be released on October 11 and he has been working hard towards that sentence,” added Ms Yates.

“He has used his time in custody constructively and is now clean. He has now been notified of these offences, which should have been dealt with in June, he is here through no fault of his own."

Rob Hanratty, acting for Cambridge, said the couple were “not doing themselves any favours by embarking on this spree”, but said the pre-date the other offences for which they have been sentenced.

For driving while disqualified, Ludlow was handed 14 weeks’ custody and banned from driving for 111 weeks. For each of the theft charges he was ordered to serve eight weeks in custody, but these will run concurrently to the 14-week jail term, meaning his year in jail is extended by 14 weeks.

Cambridge was fined £40 for the first theft, with a £95 surcharge and £85 costs.

They agreed to revoke her original order and resentence her to a new 12-month community order, with 25 rehabilitation days and a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement.