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An out-of-control teenager who is one of Britain's most prolific shoplifters has been spared jail despite stealing goods worth over £100,000. The 17-year-old helped himself to cosmetics from the shelves in dozens of raids in the London branches of high street giants Boots and Holland and Barrett over the last two years. But he was told he was being given a chance to turn his life around by a kind-hearted magistrate who urged the serial crook to "seize the opportunity".

The court leniency comes despite a promised crackdown on retail crime by the government and flies in the face of demands of the Express Stop The Shoplifters campaign which has highlighted industry demands for tougher sentences. The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, previously pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft - which included 11 counts where he took goods valued at £59,280.07 from Boots.

He had been charged with 56 counts of shoplifting from Boots, Highbury Corner Youth Court was previously told, and the offences were to be taken into consideration.

The goods stolen in all the thefts from Boots between April 2024 and December 2025 were valued at more than £100,000, the court was told, as well as items worth more than £2,415 from Holland and Barrett.

He targeted Boots stores in several boroughs including Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea - and stole from Holland and Barrett stores in Hammersmith and Fulham and Camden.

His guilty pleas included his highest value theft, where he stole £9,316.05 worth of goods from a Boots in Kensington and Chelsea on October 2 2024.

The youth was caught after being identified on CCTV stealing items in the company of another youth.

The court previously heard the defendant had been "shocked" by a warning from his grandfather that he could end up in prison if he does not turn his life around.

Asked by the magistrates about the reasons behind his prolific offending, the boy said in March: "Sometimes I just get distracted and led by other people, and stuff like that.

"I do not want to be like that anymore. I just want to be with my granddad."

He was sentenced to a 12-month criminal behaviour order, banning him from entering Holland and Barrett and Boots stores.

The youth was also ordered to pay £400 in compensation to Boots and a further £100 to Holland and Barrett, and was made the subject of a 12-month referral order, in which a youth offender panel will decide the terms of his rehabilitation.

After sentencing the youth, who turns 18 later this year, magistrate Alexia Fetherstonhaugh warned him: "Things shift dramatically when you go to adult court.

"Seize this opportunity (for rehabilitation). This is your chance to do that."