A young Romanian stole goods worth more than £4,800 from supermarkets around the country after running out of money.

Nicusor Anghel, of Radford Road in Nottingham, admitted to eight high-value thefts, one of which was carried out in Swindon last month.

The 19-year-old appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court on Monday for sentencing.

Some offences occurred at a trio of Tescos, as he took goods worth £351.10 from a Swindon branch on September 20, 2024, £367 from the Towcester branch on August 18, and £400 from the Wellingborough branch on August 2.

The rest affected various Sainsbury's supermarkets, where he stole items worth £897 from the Banbury branch on June 16, £761 and £200 respectively from the Colwick and Castle Boulevard branches on June 17, £800 from the Cheshire Sainsburys on June 18, and a whopping £1,116.50 of products from the Peterborough Sainsburys on June 19.

Tom Power, prosecuting, explained that the thefts significantly impacted the stores involved and that the defendant had one previous conviction for shoplifting.

Mark Glendenning, defending, added: "This man came from Romania to visit family [and] used the money he brought with him much quicker than expected.

"He was pressured to become involved in an enterprise travelling to various points to steal to order.

"He was paid £15 to £20 a time and intended to collect enough money to travel back to Romania as soon as he can.

"He has supportive family and employment there, and his partner is six months pregnant.

"He has been lured into that life [of crime]. His uncle can put him up until he can go back to Romania."

District Judge Joanna Dickens reduced a 48-week prison sentence to 26 weeks due to the defendant's early guilty plea and young age.

She acknowledged that although "it is safe to say [he] is not the mastermind" of this shoplifting operation, which she considered to be "organised crime", Anghel should be sent to prison due to the seriousness of the offences committed.

Judge Dickens added: "This is causing a lot of problems for everyone. Shops all over the country are losing huge amounts of money and it's affecting the safety of shop workers. 

"You should stop doing this. I hope this is a wake-up call."

Anghel has already served just over five weeks in custody at HMP Bullingdon and will serve a further eight weeks before being released on licence for the rest of the sentence.

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