Prolific thief locked up after stealing solely from Boyes department stores, including at Whitby's

Stephen Golubovic, 53, stole fantasy war-games videos and pots of paint from several branches of the 140-year-old department store, which was founded in Scarborough in 1881, during a 16-month thieving spree between December 2019 and March this year, York Crown Court heard.

One of those branches was in Whitby, where Golubovic stole just short of £500 of paint and Games Workshop videos, said prosecutor Rob Galley.

Golubovic also targeted branches in Northallerton, Skipton, Retford in Nottinghamshire, Matlock in Derbyshire and Barnsley, stealing a total of £1,895 of goods.

During one of the incidents, he spat in the face of a female shop assistant who suspected him of stealing and confronted him.

Golubovic then kicked a male shop worker who tried to restrain him.

He was finally arrested after being stopped outside a Homebase store in a Nissan X-Trail.

Golubovic was charged with five counts of shoplifting and two of common assault against shop workers.

He ultimately admitted the offences and appeared for sentence on Tuesday (Dec 7).

Golubovic, a drug user who had been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine for more than 30 years, had a whopping 97 previous convictions for 259 offences.

A good many of them were for shoplifting but he also had a record for serious violence, burglary and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Stephen Munro, mitigating, said Golubovic, who had mental-health problems, had embarked on his epic thieving spree to pay off a drug debt.

Judge Simon Hickey described Golubovic’s latest thieving spree as a “pattern of attacks against Boyes stores”.

He told the serial thief: “I have never seen a record such as yours.

"You are a determined, travelling, professional shoplifter.”

Golubovic, of Buckingham Street, Scunthorpe, was jailed for 19 months.

He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on parole.

Mr Hickey also made a lifetime restraining order banning Golubovic from entering any Boyes store in the UK.