A Southend man has admitted committing more than 25 shop thefts at BP forecourts in Basildon, Hullbridge, South Woodham Ferrers and Wickford.
Appearing at Chelmsford Magistrates Court, Joel Lazarus also pleaded guilty to drug-driving last August.
The court heard that Lazarus had targeted the BP garage in East Mayne, Basildon, on 24 occasions since June 2024 – sometimes twice on the same day. He also stole from BP sites in Cranfield Park Road, Wickford, and South Woodham Ferrers, as well as the Co-op store in Ferry Road, Hullbridge.
When arrested on April 11 and taken into custody by an officer from Basildon Local Policing Team, Lazarus refused to provide a sample for a Class A drug test, which he is required to do under Essex Police’s drug test-on-arrest (DTOA) scheme.
Under DTOA, detainees are required to take a saliva test for cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin if officers believe these drugs have contributed to the crime or if they have been arrested for acquisitive crimes, such as theft, burglary, robbery and fraud, or certain drug offences.
If they test positive, they are required to attend an assessment session with one of the drugs treatment services the police work with in Essex. This is one of the ways in which police try to help people with addictions to break away from a cycle of reoffending.
Lazarus is due to be sentenced for all 30 offences at Basildon Magistrates’ Court on May 23.
Between January 1 and April 13, 2025, 437 people were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Essex and 294 of those were charged with a total of 890 counts of shop theft, while 26 were charged with assaulting a retail worker.
