(Image: The Northern Echo)
A County Durham man has been ordered to pay hundreds of pounds in compensation after admitting a series of shop thefts from businesses across the Bishop Auckland area.
Stuart Brown, 33, of Ennerdale Drive, West Auckland, appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court on September 30.
Brown pleaded guilty to four counts of theft from a shop, committed between September 7 and September 17, 2026.
On September 7, Brown stole seven handbags valued at £249.95 from TK Maxx in Bishop Auckland.
The following day, he took ten electrical items, two handbags, and beauty products worth £267.89 from the same store.
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On September 10, he stole £115 of meat from Morrisons, West Auckland. On September 17, he took four bottles of spirits totalling £70 from Oakley Service Station.
Brown was ordered to pay a total of £702.84 in compensation.
His guilty pleas were taken into account.