A prolific Isle of Wight shoplifter who previously served just 6 days out of a 4-month sentence has landed himself back in prison, after he broke his criminal behaviour order and breached his suspended sentence.
58-year-old Timothy Young appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates’ Court this afternoon (Friday), where he faced 6 recent charges of shoplifting and, in turn, breaches of his 2-year criminal behaviour order and 18-month suspended sentence, which Island Echo reported were both imposed on 16th October last year.
The court heard from Crown Prosecutor Liz Miller, who said that, over approximately 3 weeks, Young committed a total of 6 offences, plus 2 additional offences that were withdrawn.
Between 1st September 2026 and 19th September 2026, the high-value thefts included one from ITS Tools Newport, where the defendant walked away with £376 worth of DeWalt tools such as an impact driver, 3 batteries and a charger.
The theft triggered the tool shop to take to social media, sharing CCTV footage with the public, who they hoped would help them identify the thief. It didn’t take long for the comments section on Island Echo’s Facebook page to point the finger at Young.
Prior to this, the recognisable thief visited many of his usual victims, including Sainsburys and B&M.
At B&M, the local offender was seen by a member of staff filling a backpack and his coat pockets with electrical items before walking out of the shop located on High Street, Newport – committing both theft and breaching his criminal behaviour order by not putting the items in a basket or trolley.
In Sainsbury’s, Young took a step in the right direction as he went about his food shop using a trolley as ordered by the court. However, after loading 2 legs of lamb into the shopping cart, Young parked up down a clothing aisle where he then put the joints into his backpack before ditching the trolley and walking out of the shop.
The court heard that the electrical items from B&M where the only goods to be recovered.
As exclusively revealed by Island Echo last year, Young was just 6 days into a 4-month custodial sentence when he was mysteriously released from prison. The release saw him back on the streets, where it is said that homelessness and issues regarding his Universal Credit payments resulted in immediate reoffending.
At the time, Magistrates sentenced Young to another 4-month sentence.
Longtime defence solicitor for Young, Oscar Vincent, said that Young is someone with genuine disabilities and is suffering from a ‘botched’ leg surgery.
It was said in mitigation that the degenerative condition affecting Young’s lower left limb is getting worse.
The court also heard that following his release from prison last year and the progression of his disability, Young applied for extra funding through Personal Independence Payments; however, his application was denied. In addition, Oscar Vincent told the Magistrates that the local authority failed to renew his client’s place within supported accommodation, which has left him homeless.
Mr Vincent advocated for his client, saying that he was ‘stealing to survive’ and described him as being in a ‘shortage of benefits’.
The bench sentenced Timothy Young to a total of 24 weeks’ imprisonment and set a collection order for £154.
