Two police forces have issued Criminal Behaviour Orders to shoplifters, banning them from entering petrol stations.
Action taken by Essex Police resulted in a prolific shoplifter being banned from every BP petrol station in the county for five years after the local magistrate issued him with a CBO.
Brian Howard, 56 and from Basildon, admitted 32 offences after officers from Basildon Neighbourhood Policing Team presented him with extensive CCTV evidence and witness statements relating to his crimes.
Howard stole goods worth at least £1,900 from BP garages in East Mayne and Nether Mayne between May 7 and October 24 this year. At court, he was ordered to pay BP £1,855.71 in compensation, given a 12-week suspended jail sentence, ordered to complete a six-month drug rehabilitation course, and will have to take part in 30 days’ rehabilitation activity designed to prevent future offending.
Back in January, magistrates issued a similar order banning another shoplifter from every BP in Essex for two years.
Separately, Lancashire Police have issued Marie Darbyshire, 46 and from Burnley, with a two-year CBO banning her from Kitchens Service Station in the town until October 30, 2027 “as a result of shoplifting offences”.
Lancashire’s action comes as part of its Operation Vulture initiative, which sees officers patrol shoplifting hotspots, work with retailers to “shape intelligence”, and identify offenders. Last month the project saw a thief banned from two forecourts operated by Top 50 Indie The Kay Group, plus an EG On The Move filling station. Back in February another shoplifter was banned from entering various shops and a petrol station in Burnley as part of Operation Vulture.
Criminal Behaviour Orders are a type of court order that can ban offenders from certain locations, with arrests following if the orders are breached.
CBOs were introduced in 2014, replacing some of the functions Anti Social Behaviour Orders performed. They have been used extensively over the years to ban thieves from filling stations, though not always successfully.
