Magistrates slapped a 44-year-old serial shoplifter with a ban keeping him out of three busy areas of Northampton for five years in the latest bid to stop him repeatedly raiding convenience stores.

According to court documents, Simon Boswell – who has a history of being in prison for violent robberies at shops in the town – indicated guilty pleas to 16 charges of theft from One Stop between April 26 and June 29, 2026, including one raid where he stole cigarettes to the value of £800.

Prosecutors alleged at a hearing at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on July 23 that Boswell, of Candace Court, Duston, also took various quantities of wine, meat, coffee, chocolate, cheese, cleaning products and toiletries. The combined value of his hauls was more than £2,200.

Boswell was ordered to take non-residential drug rehabilitation treatment for three months and have his whereabouts monitored electronically for one year.

Serial shoplifter Simon Boswell targeted One Stop 16 times in two months, stealing goods worth more than £2,200

placeholder image — Serial shoplifter Simon Boswell targeted One Stop 16 times in two months, stealing goods worth more than £2,200

Magistrates also issued a criminal behaviour order which prohibits Boswell from going into any Co-op, One Stop Shop, Tesco or Marks and Spencer stores anywhere in Northamptonshire for five years. He must also not enter Main Road and Limehurst Square in Duston and also the Sixfields area for any reason.

The order also carries requirements to leave any other premises in the county after being asked to leave by staff and not to behave in a manner “that you know or ought to know is likely to cause annoyance, alarm or distress to any person in Northamptonshire”.

Back in May 2025 Boswell was given a conditional discharge after stealing from the Co-op at Upton Lane. And in August 2024 he was jailed for six months for a Boxing Day burglary which netted £500 worth of cigarettes and alcohol from another Co-op store in Rothersthorpe Road

In November 2022 Boswell was one of three men jailed by an Crown Court judge for robbery and assaulting a security guard at a store in Limehurst Square, Duston. At that time, it was reported Boswell had convictions for 59 previous offences – including four for robbery – and he had committed the offence while serving a community order for theft. He was sentenced to two years, eight months in prison.