Teenager spared jail after stealing more than £100,000 worth of goods from Boots

A teenager has been spared jail after carrying out a high street shoplifting spree, stealing goods worth more than £100,000.

The 17-year-old previously pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft - which included 11 counts where he took goods valued at £59,280.07 from Boots.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, had been charged with 56 counts of shoplifting cosmetics from the high street pharmacist chain, Highbury Corner Youth Court previously heard, and the offences were to be taken into consideration.

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

Court officials said that during sentencing on Thursday, the teenager was handed a 12-month criminal behaviour order, banning him from entering Holland and Barrett and Boots stores.

He was also ordered to pay £400 in compensation to Boots and £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 boy, who turns 18 later this year, magistrate Alexia Fetherstonhaugh warned him: "Things shift dramatically when you go to adult court.

"Seize this opportunity. This is your chance to do that."

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The court heard the 17-year-old was "shocked" by a warning from his grandfather that he could end up in prison if he did not turn his life around.

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

Asked by the magistrates in March about the reasons behind his offending, the teenager said: "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."

The court also heard he targeted Boots stores in several London 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 2 October 2024.

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