Nottingham gran with more than 300 offences to her name back behind bars

A Nottingham grandmother with more than 60 court appearances for over 300 offences is back behind bars. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Amanda Cunningham’s latest crime spree saw her target supermarkets, one of which she was banned from entering earlier this year.

The 45-year-old mother, of Bilborough, would use her know-how to try to bypass shops' electronic security systems to wheel out trolleys full of booze to sell to pay for drugs. And, on one occasion, she entered John Lewis in the Victoria Centre with a child and wheeled it out sitting in a stolen pushchair she had ripped the tag off.

Jailing her for two years and three months, Judge Steven Coupland said: “Your life has been marred for many years with an addiction to drugs and no doubt many of the offences on your appalling record come from funding that addiction. You were given a chance in January with a suspended sentence and it is a great pity you were not able to take that opportunity.

“Your spree of thefts and attempted thefts totalled more than £3,000 and we are now at the stage, I am afraid, where the court cannot give you any more chances. You deliberately targeted stores and products, there was planning and these were sophisticated offences.”

Katrina Wilson, prosecuting, said Cunningham was handed a suspended sentence in January and a criminal behaviour order banning her from entering Tesco stores. She said that, by May, the defendant was back to stealing.

The prosecutor said: “On May 6, she entered Sainsbury’s in Ripley and made threats to assault the manager there. That woman said she later felt scared to walk home in case she came across the defendant.

“The defendant’s MO (motive) was to walk into the stores, bypass the security systems and wheel out the trollies loaded with bottles of alcohol.” Miss Wilson said Cunningham did this at the Ripley Sainsbury’s in Ripley, Tesco in Mansfield and John Lewis in Nottingham city centre with the toddler.

She said: “The total value was more than £3,000 and the defendant was arrested on Jun 28 hiding in a cupboard at her address at that time.”

The defendant, of Darnhall Crescent, pleaded guilty to eight shop thefts, one attempted shop theft, common assault and breaching both her criminal behaviour order and her suspended sentence order.

Clarkson Baptiste, her barrister, said his client “realises she is running out of options and the court is too”. He said: “She wishes to make better of her life and holds out the hope of rehabilitation.”