A persistent shoplifter has been banned from every Boots store in the country after stealing £28,000 of goods from the health and beauty brand. Craig Sawyer, 51, disguised himself when he targeted stores in Worcestershire, Shropshire and the West Midlands and became known as “Satchel Man” in many of the shops he visited.
Sawyer was arrested at Co-Op in Malvern on Saturday, January 4 and appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates Court yesterday (Monday, January 6), where he was found guilty of a total of 16 counts of theft from stores, including 12 at Boots stores of which five were in Evesham and another five in Malvern.
He was also convicted of thefts from a Boots in Walsall and one in Shrewsbury, as well as two thefts at Co-op on Worcester Road, Malvern, one at B&Q in Malvern and one at Savers in Newport, Shropshire. These thefts, committed between March and December 2024, totalled £11,475.55. Boots told West Mercia Police Sawyer was behind £28,000 of thefts from their stores nationally.
Sawyer, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to 42 weeks in jail and given a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from all Boots stores nationally for a period of five years and the county of Worcestershire, unless travelling through in a vehicle or train.
Witnesses said Sawyer was known to dye his hair and use glasses to alter his appearance. On his arrest he was found with a number of different jackets. However, he always carried a brown shoulder bag with him, earning him the nickname ‘Satchel Man’ in many of the stores he targeted.
At court yesterday, he was further sentenced to 22 weeks in prison to run consecutively as a suspended term was activated relating to two counts of theft from shops in Uttoxeter, totalling £800.35, and going equipped for theft from a store in Uttoxeter, all on 10 October 2024.
Safer Neighbourhood Inspector for Wychavon and Malvern, Dave Wise, said: “Achieving an immediate custodial sentence and CBO for Sawyer is a real success and serves to protect our retailers in the longer term. His CBO bans him from Worcestershire and from all Boots stores nationally. It’s our focus on retail crime and commitment to improving working relationships with local stores that has helped us catch this evasive and prolific thief.”
PC Paul Slaymaker, who is one of several neighbourhood officers in Worcestershire with a remit to focus on shoplifting, added: “The key to this successful prosecution is our relationship with our stores. We were able to work with retail staff closely in Evesham and Malvern to understand how Sawyer was operating and to encourage effective reporting at the right time to enable us to get one step ahead of him.
“Having the right intelligence allowed us to predict where he would go next and catch him in the act.”
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