Hot tub thief guilty of further DIY store thefts

A thief who tried to sneak an inflatable hot tub out of a B&Q has been found guilty of returning to the store just days after his conviction to steal DIY equipment.

Carl Proctor was ordered to pay thousands of pounds in compensation and banned from a number of shops when he was sentenced on 29 September for the bungled theft from the B&Q on Weston Road in Crewe, plus a string of other offences.

Just two days later, on 1 October, he was caught in breach of his criminal order by entering the store and then trying to steal a DeWalt saw and a wood saw, worth £147 in total.

Proctor, 41, of Chell Heath Road, Stoke-on-Trent, was found guilty of both offences at Crewe Magistrates Court on Thursday.

At an earlier hearing, Proctor also pleaded guilty to possession of monkey dust, which is a synthetic psychoactive substance, and possession of cannabis during a separate incident on 6 October.

He will be sentenced for all four offences on 25 February at Crewe Magistrates Court and is currently on bail with conditions not to enter any B&Q store.

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