Stuart Taylor, 37, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 30 weeks in prison at Margate Magistrates’ Court the day after his arrest, having pleaded guilty to seven shoplifting offences involving goods worth an estimated £290 taken from a St Dunstan Street store between April and July 2026.
A prolific shoplifter who kept going back to the same Sainsbury’s in Canterbury has been jailed for 30 weeks. Stuart Taylor, 37, of no fixed address, was picked up in Westgate Gardens on Monday 20 July and was in front of Margate Magistrates’ Court the very next day, where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced on the spot.
Taylor faced seven shoplifting offences relating to the St Dunstan Street store between April and July 2026, having walked out on multiple occasions with steaks, cleaning products and confectionery worth an estimated £290 in total. Kent Police tracked him down after officers waded through hours of CCTV footage. It also emerged he was already wanted for breaching a suspended sentence order from earlier offending.
Police Sergeant Emily Thayre said: “This kind of repeat offending has not only a detrimental effect on the businesses targeted but also leads to increased prices for law-abiding customers. Taylor disregarded the conditions placed on him by the court following previous offending and now has to face the consequences. I am pleased that, thanks to the knowledge and quick work of local officers, we were able to quickly identify and arrest him, helping to prevent further offences.”