A 21-year-old shoplifter has been banned from almost every shop in her home town after a string of thefts and drunken attacks. In just five weeks, Keighley Harris struck five shops, threatened staff, attacked a police officer, hurled a flower pot at a window and threatened to set fire to someone’s home. On one occasion she pushed a male accomplice around a garden centre in a wheelchair pretending he was disabled while shoplifting children’s clothes. When the pair were challenged by staff Harris threatened to attack them.
On another occasion Harris racially abused a police officer who arrested her from her home following a drunken disturbance. Harris, of Worcester, has now been handed a CRASBO for the offences in January this year, banning her from entering two retail parks, two garden centres and two supermarkets in Warndon, a small parish town. She is also banned from using foul abusive or racist language or gestures or being threatening, intimidating or aggressive towards anyone not of the same household as herself.
Worcester Magistrates Court heard that on January 4 Harris stole a bottle of whiskey from Tesco in the town. Eight days later on January 12 she stole three hairdryers from Argos. In January 20 she attempted to steal perfume from Asda and three days later she stole saucepans from Homesense. On February 10 she and her male accomplice, Christopher Smith, 32, struck Bessingham garden centre in the town. Smith posed as a disabled shopper and was pushed around the store in a wheelchair by Harris.
A West Mercia Police spokesman said: ‘She had pushed a male accomplice, who was feigning a disability, around in a wheelchair. ‘They selected three items of children’s clothing which he [Smith] concealed by sitting on. When challenged she threatened to assault a member of staff.’ One another occasion she threw a flower pot at a relative’s window and threatened to burn down another family member’s house. On April 4 she was handed the CRASBO as well as a 12-month community order, a drug rehabilitation order, a supervision order.
She was also handed a 12-week curfew order banning her from going out at night. If Harris breaches the CRASBO she can be jailed for up to five years. Meanwhile Smith, of Worcester, was jailed for four weeks after he admitted three counts of theft, one for the incident with Harris and one of a camera from PC World and another a TV from Sainsburys. He also admitted one count of attempted theft and one of commissioning an offense while serving a suspended sentence.