Shops ban for boy for £100,000 shoplifting sprees

A teenage boy who stole goods worth more than £100,000 from two high street giants has been banned from the shops he targeted.

The 17-year-old took cosmetics in dozens of raids in the London branches of Boots and Holland and Barrett over the last two years, magistrates at Highbury Corner Youth Court previously heard.

He was handed a 12-month criminal behaviour order and banned from entering the stores during sentencing at the same court on Thursday, court officials said.

The youth was also ordered to pay £400 in compensation to Boots and £100 to Holland and Barrett, and made the subject of a 12-month referral order, in which a youth offender panel will decide the terms of his rehabilitation.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, previously pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft – which included 11 counts where he took goods valued at £59,280.07 from Boots.

He had been charged with 56 counts of shoplifting from Boots, the court was previously told, and the offences were to be taken into consideration.

The goods stolen in all the thefts from Boots, between April 2024 and December 2025, were valued at more than £100,000, the court was told. Items worth more than £2,415 were taken from Holland and Barrett.

His guilty pleas included his highest value theft, where he stole £9,316.05 worth of goods from a Boots in Kensington and Chelsea on 2 October 2024.

The youth was caught after being identified on CCTV stealing items in the company of another youth.

The court previously heard the defendant had been "shocked" by a warning from his grandfather that he could end up in prison if he did not turn his life around.

Asked by the magistrates about the reasons behind his prolific offending, the boy said in March: "Sometimes I just get distracted and led by other people, and stuff like that.

"I do not want to be like that anymore. I just want to be with my granddad."

After sentencing, magistrate Alexia Fetherstonhaugh warned the youth, who turns 18 later this year: "Things shift dramatically when you go to adult court.

"Seize this opportunity (for rehabilitation).

"This is your chance to do that."

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