A MAN has been banned from several high street stores after stealing thousands of pounds worth of meat and alcohol to fuel his drug habit.

Ryan Etherton, 42, of Willingdon Way, Hastings was found guilty of five shopliftings, stealing goods made up largely of meat and alcohol, worth almost £2000.

He has been given a three year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) banning him from entering Jempsons, Marks and Spencer, Co-Op, Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, TK Maxx, ESK and Debenhams, as he has previously stolen from those stores.

Etherton was allowed to choose where he wanted to shop and was given a condition to only use that one supermarket, Asda in St Leonards, but he must identify himself to security on entry and exit.

Alongside this, he was given a sixteen week prison sentence at Brighton Magistrates Court on January 4, and magistrates have required him to serve four weeks in custody.

Etherton, who committed the thefts in shops across Hastings and Rother, is also banned from encouraging any other person to commit theft.

PC Richard Laws said: “Etherton has been committing these offences to feed a spiralling drug habit. The conditions of the CBO will not only go some way to preventing further offences, but a Supervision Order, also issued by the court, requires him to get help for those addictions.

“Meanwhile the CBO will give store staff some relief from his continual disruptive presence and offending. Hopefully the restrictive conditions of the CBO will also send a message to other offenders who may seek to commit similar thefts.”