A shoplifter has been ordered to pay hundreds of pounds after stealing alcohol from Waitrose.

Joshua Lewis Crichton stole nearly £800 of booze during three thefts from two separate stores in May and August.

At 1.30pm on Monday May 1, the 33-year-old stole £147.50 worth of alcohol from the Waitrose store in Portswood Road, Southampton.

He walked away with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Triple Mash, a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrell, a bottle of Woodford Reserve Bourbon and two bottles of Jack Daniel’s.

At 4.50pm on Wednesday August 16, Crichton entered Waitrose in Stanford Road, Lymington and stole £649.46 worth of alcohol.

The items stolen included Hennessy Cognac, Laurent Perrier Brut, Laurent Perrier Rose Champagne, prosecco, wine and vodka.

The next day, at 4pm, Crichton returned to the same store and stole another £124 worth of alcohol, including three bottles of Bushmills Whiskey and two bottles of Kraken Spiced Rum.

These were recovered soon after by store security.

Crichton, of Lymington Road in Highcliffe, was sentenced at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on November 10, having pleaded guilty to all three offences. 

He was ordered to pay a total of £796.96 in compensation.

Sergeant Arron Wood, of the New Milton Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This outcome was only possible because of some good work from our officers and teams.

“Our offender management team linked in with probation to identify an address for Crichton. This was an address we were previously unaware of.

“Our New Milton and Lymington officers then followed up by taking prompt action to ensure he was arrested and subsequently charged.

“As I have previously said, retail crime in Hampshire is one of the force’s current priorities and we continue to support that by robustly dealing with shoplifters.

“We will always deal with these matters seriously and will make all efforts to try and identify offenders if we don’t know who they are.

"If you are a shop owner or staff member, please continue to report any shopliftings to us."