Offender who stole from Boots and Sainsbury’s avoids jail

Salisbury: So, here’s the scoop. Joshua Simpkins was in court recently for stealing some pricey perfumes from Boots. The total came to about £560. The magistrates were pretty lenient, though. They decided against sending him to jail, which is a bit surprising given the circumstances.

He was back in court on January 3, where he admitted to swiping items from both Boots and Sainsbury’s. The thefts included some Gillette razor blades worth £124. The magistrates felt his actions were serious enough to warrant jail time, but they opted for a 16-week prison sentence that’s suspended for 18 months instead.

This new sentence will run alongside another one he got back in November, which was also suspended. The court mentioned that he’s got a place to stay now and is working on his addiction issues. They figured sending him to prison would just mess that up.

Interestingly, he wasn’t ordered to pay back any money to the stores he stole from. Instead, he just has to follow some guidelines from a responsible officer for up to 10 days. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but it seems like they’re trying to give him a chance to turn things around.