PROLIFIC shoplifter John Goscombe has been given the first Criminal Behaviour Order in the county, banning him from entering shops in Cirencester for two years.

The 40-year-old has been barred from entering retail premises within a 3km radius of Cirencester town centre, following his conviction for five offences of shoplifting in the town, for which he received a five-month prison sentence.

Goscombe, of Bowly Road in Cirencester, received the order on December 4 at Cheltenham Magistrates Court.

Sergeant Andy Wood, of Cotswolds Local Policing Area, said: "This individual has refused to engage with probation or Integrated Offender Management, where a number of agencies come together to tackle the harm particular offenders can cause to their communities.

"We decided to apply for a CRASBO to see if this would have the desired effect, but on the day we were going to make the application, the law changed, with Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBO) replacing CRASBOs.

"We originally asked for a ban from every single retail premises, but legal argument at court has allowed him to enter some premises, for example, restaurants, and a pharmacy. Had we been more rigid we might not have got this order at all.”

Explaining how a CBO and CRASBO differ, Sgt Wood said: "The main difference is that, whilst a CRASBO would have been imposed following a conviction for a criminal offence, with prohibitions to stop a person’s problem behaviour, a CBO on the other hand does not have a need to prove necessity and it provides more flexible scope for long term solutions.

"In other words, we can ask the magistrates to impose conditions so that offenders have to take steps to address their own behaviour, such as anger management and drug intervention.

"This order provides police with another valuable tool in our efforts to drive down offending in our communities, in a flexible and imaginative way."