Shoplifter banned from (almost) every Great Yarmouth store

Serial shoplifter Clare Wedgbury, 35, has been made subject of a bail conditions order preventing her from setting foot in any retail business in the seaside town.

Norwich Magistrates' Court was told the draconian measure had only two exceptions - a single branch of Morrisons Daily on Barkis Road and a specified pharmacy allowing her to buy items required for medical needs.

It comes after Wedgbury, of Napoleon Place in Great Yarmouth, pleaded guilty to three charges of theft from shops. 

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The court was told on July 1 this year she had stolen alcohol worth more than £1,000 from Sainsbury’s on St Nicholas Road.

Staff spotted her placing numerous bottles in a bag before walking out and getting in a taxi. She was later identified from CCTV. 

Morrisons Daily, one of only two shops Wedgbury is allowed to enter in Great Yarmouth under bail conditions (Image: Google)

Three days later at the same store she was stopped by security guards after putting numerous bottles of Jack Daniels in a bag.

The court was told that when she was arrested by police she had attempted to give a false identity.  

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Despite the shop ban being imposed following a previous court appearance she was arrested again for shoplifting at a Lidl store on September 12, stealing bottles of children’s medicine Calpol.

Extending the ban until her sentencing until October 18, magistrates told Wedgbury: “You have already breached bail and that is not acceptable. It is in place to protect these shops from you.”

Andrew Spence, mitigating, said: “She is a young woman who until two years ago had a good character, so clearly something has gone awry.

“She previously had a job as a kitchen manager but after a car accident, her mental health has deteriorated. She turned to drugs and very quickly developed a heroin addiction.”