A SERIAL shoplifter who added two more theft charges to the other 45 he had already committed and was convicted of, was told his criminal record was as bad as the court had seen.

Roland Tomlin, of Terminus Road, Cowes, admitted two charges of shoplifting, in Cowes, on August 21 and September 2, when he appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on Friday, October 18.

Regarding the August theft, Tomlin stole from Blakes News, taking two cans of Monster energy drinks and putting them in his pocket.

Tomlin then walked up to the counter and asked for two vapes. 

When the shopkeeper placed them on the counter, Tomlin collected them and left the store without paying, said Lauren McConnell, prosecuting.

The total value of the items stolen amounted to £16.28.

On September 2, Tomlin went into the Cowes branch of Sainsbury's and made off with a bottle of Southern Comfort, worth £30.

None of the items were recovered.

Earlier this year, Tomlin was made subject to a suspended sentence order for a non-dwelling burglary and shop theft.

But on August 20, Tomlin was jailed for two years for two burglaries by an Isle of Wight Crown Court judge.

For Tomlin, Tom Cooke said his client accepted his fate, but had no means of repaying the stores any compensation. 

His record of 35 convictions for 103 offences — 45 for shoplifting — was described by presiding magistrate, David Wilson, as "as bad as we've seen in this court".

Tomlin was handed two week's imprisonment, to run concurrently with his existing jail term, with an order to pay the stores £46.28 in compensation between them on his release.