Prolific Greggs shoplifter given suspended sentence, Met says

Tiffany O'Neill, 28, who stole more than £2,000 worth of soft drinks from a single Greggs store, has been given a suspended sentence and is back in the community, the Metropolitan Police said.

At Croydon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday 11 November, O'Neill, who had pleaded guilty to 80 offences in total, was handed a 26 week sentence suspended for 12 months. Police say she was arrested, charged and remanded to court 11 times from May and was ultimately charged with 69 theft offences. The Met says new rules that came into force earlier this year require sentences of under a year to be suspended unless very specific exceptions apply.

The force says she was granted bail at all but one court appearance, despite repeatedly breaching conditions and returning to the same Greggs on Electric Avenue in Brixton. She was banned from Lambeth and told to wear a GPS tag, but police say the tag was never fitted. Three sentencing hearings were adjourned because she did not attend, and a fourth was delayed by technical problems at the court. Officers are estimated to have spent more than 120 hours on the case.

She was also given a Criminal Behaviour Order banning her from Brixton town centre and all Greggs stores in the UK for two years.

Sergeant Chris Wilkinson said the outcome was disappointing but that courts must follow sentencing guidelines. Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said a small number of prolific offenders cause much of the harm and called for the CPS, courts, prisons and probation to help break the cycle. Greggs chief executive Roisin Currie said the company supports efforts to tackle repeat offending and wants more focus on interventions that prevent reoffending.