'The worst thief in Wolverhampton' walks free from court
A crook dubbed 'the worst thief in Wolverhampton' by his own lawyer has been spared jail despite a five-month campaign raiding supermarkets around the city.
Jonathan Masterson pleaded guilty to 19 charges of theft with a haul nearing £900 as he fed his drug habit, stealing items such as coffee, chocolate and cheese.
He also admitted two assaults on shop workers as a judge at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court gave him with a three-year anti-social behaviour order from entering two Co-operative stores in Wolverhampton.
On one occasion he threatened staff at Morrisons in Pendeford with his keys.
Masterson, of St Anne's Road, Fordhouses, began stealing on November 29 when he took £50 worth of chocolates from a Co-op store at 490 Stafford Road.
He stole a further 18 times including stealing £80 of gammon and steak on February 17 from a Co-op on Stafford Road.
He took £100 worth of washing detergent from Euroshopper, now known as Family Shopper, in Collingwood Road, Bushbury, on March 17. In a £130 theft at the Co-op he grabbed five bottles of shower gel, three deodorant cans and six tins of baby milk as part of his haul on March 18.
Miss Jo Taylor, prosecuting, described the thief's tactics as 'unremarkable', stating on each occasion he was caught on CCTV having selected items and walked out the shop. On March 20 he assaulted security guard George Long at Pendeford's Morrisons store. Miss Taylor said: "Mr Masterson chose a number of items from the shelves but when he went to the till he only attempted to pay for a bottle of beer.
"He was spotted by George Long, who recognised Mr Masterson. He attempted to restrain the defendant, who resisted and threatened Mr Long and several staff members with a set of keys. He then left. Mr Long suffered a puncture wound to his hand which came from the defendant's keys."
The court heard how Masterson went on to assault another shop worker at a Stafford Road Co-op on April 7 when she wouldn't let him leave the shop without paying. Mr Sandip Murria, defending, said: "He had been in a steady relationship with a girlfriend and when that finished he fell off the rails and turned to drugs.
"These weren't sophisticated criminal acts because simply Mr Masterson is clearly the worst thief in Wolverhampton."
Masterson was given a 32-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months. He must take part in a drug rehabilitation programme and was ordered to pay £150 in compensation. He is also banned from entering the Co-op at 490 Stafford Road and 657 Stafford Road for three years.
