A serial thief from Chadwell Heath who raided Boots stores almost daily has been jailed for four years and two months after a £20,000 crime spree across east London.
Lee Lendl, 39, admitted dozens of thefts and burglaries at Snaresbrook Crown Court, where he was jailed for 50 months.
Lendl targeted Boots stores in Wanstead, South Woodford and Leytonstone “almost daily”, stealing high-value cosmetics, fragrances and toiletries. At times he stole more than £3,000 worth of goods in a single day, the court heard.
He also carried out nine commercial burglaries, often smashing windows or forcing doors late at night to steal cash, alcohol and other goods.
He once smashed his way into a funeral directors in Leytonstone and stole coffee and biscuits. He burgled the Leytonstone Tavern four times between October and January, stealing alcohol each time.
Lendl sometimes returned to businesses he had already burgled, leaving owners to pay for smashed windows and damaged doors, the court heard.
Sentencing him, Recorder Jonathan Laidlaw KC said: “These charges are probably, in reality, the tip of the iceberg.”
“It is obvious to me you are stealing to order. You have a ready market to sell these hundreds, if not thousands, of goods,” the judge said.
Recorder Laidlaw called Lendl’s offending “brazen and prolonged” and “pretty sophisticated”, saying he exploited shop staff and security guards’ reluctance to confront him.
“You must be regarded as something akin to a one man crime wave, stealing vast amounts of cosmetics on a daily basis, at times stealing in excess of £3,000 worth of goods a day,” he said.
The court heard Lendl is a serial shoplifter and burglar with an “appalling” criminal record dating back to 2007. He had amassed 78 offences across 33 court appearances and repeatedly returned to crime after leaving prison, the court heard.
His defence said longstanding mental health, drug and alcohol problems were behind much of his offending.
