A “prolific” shoplifter has been jailed for 56 weeks after admitting eight offences of stealing alcohol and other items from shops in Haverhill.

Heroin addict Patrick Crow was caught on CCTV taking items including headphones worth £250 from Argos, a vacuum cleaner from Aldi, confectionary from Poundland, game controllers worth £160 from Tesco and alcohol from Sainsbury’s, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Michael Crimp, prosecuting, described Crow as a “prolific” shoplifter and said he had previously been banned from Sainsbury’s in Haverhill for committing earlier shoplifting offences.

Crow, 29, of Cangle Junction, Haverhill, admitted eight offences of shoplifting between August and December last year and was jailed for a total of 56 weeks.

Steven Dyble, for Crow, said his client was a heroin addict and he accepted there was no alternative to a prison sentence in his case.

He said drug rehabilitation orders had been tried unsuccessfully in the past.

“The defendant says that coming off heroin is the easy part. The difficult part is staying off it,” said Mr Dyble.

He said Crow was hoping to be sent to Highpoint prison in Suffolk where he could take a course to stop him relapsing after coming off drugs.