'No doubt' Corby is safer after prolific thief is put behind bars again

A police sergeant says he has ‘no doubt’ Corby is safer after a prolific thief was locked up yet again.

Robert Mort, 38, is back behind bars after admitting three shop thefts and breaching bail conditions after a series of incidents.

He was handed a 12-week prison sentence by magistrates after being arrested on April 6.

At the time, Mort was on bail with strict conditions preventing him from entering Morrisons in Oakley Road, having appeared in court on Tuesday, April 2, to admit the theft of plants worth £16.50 from the store on March 28.

But just four days later he was back at the store’s petrol station, leading staff to raise the alarm and prompting a proactive policing response that ended in his arrest later that day.

Mort, of Ripley Walk, was charged with one count of theft from Morrisons on April 6, and one count of theft from the town’s TK Maxx on the same date.

Appearing at Northampton Magistrates’ Court he entered guilty pleas to both charges, and also admitted one count of breaching bail conditions in relation to going to Morrisons.

Mort was sentenced for all four offences and received a prison sentence with the reasons given as the seriousness of his offending and the number of his previous convictions.

He was also ordered to pay £15.98 in compensation.

Mort had previously been jailed in 2022 after turning violent in a Christmas crime spree before being locked up at the end of last year during a shoplifting crackdown.

Speaking after his sentencing this month, Sergeant Steve Briggs of the Corby Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We take a zero-tolerance approach to shoplifting in Corby and proactively target known offenders as soon as we get wind that they are actively committing crime.

“When it became apparent on April 6 that Robert Mort was not only breaching his bail but apparently offending again, we put officers straight into action tracking him down for arrest.

“They caught up with him during a reported theft from TK Maxx, and he was brought into custody, while efforts to secure CCTV and further evidence continued in order to secure charges.

“This hard work paid off and Mort was brought before magistrates the following Monday where he was rightly sent to jail. He is a prolific offender and I have no doubt our town is safer while he is behind bars.

“Cases like this illustrate the great work we have taking place between our Neighbourhood Policing Team dealing with incidents and proactively going after offenders, the force’s retail crime team which secures evidence and builds cases to enable prompt charges, and our partners at the Northamptonshire Business Crime Partnership who work with businesses to alert them to known offenders so they can protect their staff and stores, and share vital information with us in return.”

Sergeant Sharan Wildman, of the retail crime team, added: “We are dedicated to making our county a hostile place for retail offenders. Our team works with officers across the force to both lead and support retail crime investigations, enabling evidence to be compiled swiftly and effectively so we can secure charges as quickly as possible, and also offer support to retail workers and businesses affected by crime.”