A 36-year-old man who posed a "significant menace" to businesses has been jailed and banned from Co-op shops. 

Scott Butcher, of no fixed address, has been sentenced to 51 weeks behind bars for stealing items worth over £3,000. 

He was arrested by officers in Colchester on Friday, September 8 after a theft had taken place at a Co-op store in Wivenhoe. East Anglian Daily Times: Butcher carried out the thefts between July and SeptemberButcher carried out the thefts between July and September (Image: Essex police)

Details of a vehicle were given during the report, and shortly before 11.30am a vehicle was stopped.

A search of the vehicle uncovered numerous items that had been reported as missing from a different Co-op, in Tamarisk Way in Colchester, the same day.

Butcher was linked to 22 other theft incidents that took place between July and September. 

Butcher was charged with the offences and sentenced to 51 weeks in jail at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. 

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He was also handed a criminal behavior order, which bans him from entering all Co-op stores in Essex for three years.

Chief Inspector Colin Cox, Colchester district commander, said: “The scale of Butcher’s offending is clear. He was posing a significant menace to businesses across Colchester.

“The work required to link him to each of these offences should not be underestimated and that is shown by the fact that he had no option but to admit his guilt at court on Saturday.

“The outcome of this hearing shows not only that we will not tolerate this offending, but that we are not content with putting perpetrators before the courts – and will go further to secure orders which prevents offending when he is released from prison and make no mistake, any breach will be acted upon quickly and robustly.”