Thieves go 'nesting' for shop valuables

Shoplifters are using toilet rolls and other bulky items to smuggle high value goods out of supermarkets in a practice dubbed "nesting".

The trick involves creating a circle of cheaper bulkier items to nestle the more precious goodies inside.

Thieves then take their trolley to a quiet area of the store and retrieve the valuable goods they want, leaving the rest behind before fleeing. Other times they make a dash with the entire contents of the trolley. Shopkeepers are being warned to be on their guard , after a Wolverhampton man was jailed for 16 weeks for the offence.

Paul Mattox, of Wingfoot Avenue, Low Hill, pleaded guilty to theft when he appeared at Walsall Magistrates Court yesterday.

The court heard how 33-year-old Mattox, who has 139 previous convictions, had gone "nesting" on three occasions.

On August 28, Mattox went into the Co-op, in Sedgley, while on September 18 and 19, he went "nesting" in Asda, in Darlaston.

Mr Jason Corden-Bowen, prosecuting, told the court: "He goes into the stores and gets a trolley and stacks it in a way described as nesting.

"On the outside of the trolley, he puts items like toilet roll and cereal boxes around the trolley with a space in the middle for high value items.

"On two occasions, he had several hundred pounds worth of alcohol hidden in the nest while on the last occasion he had other high value items."

When Mattox returned to Asda in Darlaston on September 19, he was recognised by staff and was arrested.

He immediately pleaded guilty to the offences.

Magistrates ordered Mattox to serve 16 weeks in jail for each offence, set to run concurrently.

He will also pay £651.11 in compensation.

John Bonhomme, store manager at Asda, in St Lawrence Way, Darlaston, said nesting was quite rare, but it did go on.

"We work hard to catch it."