Boxing Day shop thief sentenced to six months’ imprisonment

A man who stole from a Northampton shop on Boxing Day has been jailed for six months.

At 5.50pm on December 26, 2023, Northamptonshire Police received a 999 call reporting two masked men had entered the Co-op store in Rothersthorpe Road, Far Cotton, before walking behind the tills and stealing cigarettes and alcohol worth £500.

When staff members challenged the pair, they were threatened with a knife by one man, before both offenders ran off with the stolen goods.

An investigation into the robbery enabled the identification of Simon Boswell, aged 42, as the offender without the knife, after an officer who knew him recognised his distinctive footwear.

Boswell, of no fixed address, was arrested in the first week of January 2024 and charged with one count of robbery, appearing before Northampton Magistrates’ Court on January 8 where the case was sent to crown court for trial.

On June 25, Boswell admitted an alternative charge of burglary in relation to the incident, and on July 30 he appeared before Northampton Crown Court where he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154.

Speaking afterwards, investigating officer Detective Constable Casey McQuade of CID West, said: “This incident was really frightening for the shop staff involved, who told us how these two offenders appeared focused and determined, leaving them in no doubt that they could be at real risk of harm if they had tried to prevent them from stealing from the store.

“Our Force is committed to pursuing those responsible for retail offences and especially those who use violence, or the threat of it, to commit crime. Retail crime isn’t victimless and it has real consequences, as this sentence shows.”

The second offender in the incident has yet to be identified. Anyone with information about the incident can contact Northamptonshire Police on 101 quoting reference 23000790774.