A PROLIFIC shoplifter was picked up on security cameras in Cross Hills stealing meat and bottles of alcohol on three separate occasions, heard Skipton magistrates.

James Richardson, 32, who the court heard had since been given a 24 week suspended prison sentence by Bradford magistrates for similar matters, was handed another suspended sentence by the Skipton court.

James Richardson, 32, admitted stealing £100 of meat from the Co-op service station shop in Cross Hills on March 18, and five bottles of spirits, worth £91, from the Co-op in Main Street, Cross Hills, later on the same day.

Richardson also admitted returning to the service station shop on the following day and stealing a further four bottles of spirits, to the value of £72, the Skipton court was told.

He was recognised on the store's CCTV cameras by police and when interviewed told officers he could not recall the incidents and when shown the camera footage, said it was not him.

Richardson, of Whinfield Drive, Keighley, was a man who was 'hopelessly addicted to opiates', the court heard in mitigation, and stole to fund his habit.

He had a very long record of shoplifting, and over the last three years had served at least ten custodial sentences, said Mohammed Hussain.

Richardson was handed a 12 week sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £263 compensation to the Co-op. There was no order for costs or surcharge. The suspended sentence from the Skipton court will run consecutively to the Bradford court's sentence.