Leeds man who went on spree of thefts at Asda, Next and B&M while serving a suspended sentence put behind bars

David Allerton, 37, of Middleton, stole over £2,000 worth of items – including children’s clothes, Lego, televisions and a drone – during 10 incidents of theft from Asda, B&M and Next stores in Leeds. Leeds Crown Court heard on Tuesday that Allerton committed the thefts to fund his addiction to heroin.

For the prosecution, Jemima Stephenson said that Allerton was issued with a six month suspended sentence in July 2022 for dangerous driving. Ms Stephenson then outlined the 10 thefts that took place, the first of which was on October 6, 2022, and the last being on January 26, 2023.

She explained that Allerton stole an iPad and beauty care products from the Boots store at the White Rose Shopping Centre, a television and multiple Amazon Fire Sticks from the Asda store in Middleton and a drone and Lego from B&M, He also stole hundreds of pounds worth of children’s clothes from the Next store at the White Rose Shopping Centre on three separate occasions.

Following his arrest Allerton, who had 48 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the ten charges of theft at magistrates court. As well as the suspended sentence, Allerton had also breached a community order he was given in August and his last sentence was for possession of a class A drug in January this year.

In mitigation, Rhianydd Clement asked the judge to give credit for Allerton’s early guilty plea and said he “has been frank and told me it’s to feed a drug addiction”. She added that Allerton suffers with ADHD, anxiety and depression and said: “He tells me he is remorseful and willing to engage in the rehabilitation services. He recognises he needs to seek help.”

His Honour Judge Bayliss KC said that Allerton’s condition did not diminish his culpability, saying: “You are someone who effectively makes a living out of stealing other people’s property from shops. You are not deterred by community orders or anything else. You simply won’t respond to attempts to rehabilitate you.

"There’s certainly not a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”

He sentenced Allerton to 12 months in prison.