A prolific shoplifter who repeatedly targeted stores across Crawley has been sentenced to prison after breaching multiple behavioural orders.
Damien O’Hare, 48, of no fixed address, was charged with 26 counts of shoplifting, 22 counts of breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), and one count of using insulting or threatening language. The offences were committed between March and June 2024, with O’Hare predominantly targeting the Co-op in Dorsten Square, Bewbush, along with several other local stores.
O’Hare would brazenly enter the stores, take goods from the shelves, and leave without paying, often in full view of staff. On multiple occasions, when confronted, he threatened to violently assault a female staff member.
His audacity extended to targeting some stores multiple times on the same day. Each theft from the Co-op was a clear violation of an existing Criminal Behaviour Order that banned him from entering any Co-op store in Sussex.
O’Hare pleaded guilty to all charges at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on 10 June. He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison at Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday, 14 August.
