A REOFFENDING thief has been jailed for almost five months after stealing from a seaside supermarket and breaching a suspended sentence.

Essex Police officers were called to Sainsbury’s, in St John’s Road, Clacton, at about 6.15pm last Tuesday, February 2.

They had received reports of a theft from the store's security guard, who had also liaised with the Counter Crime Partnership – members from which also attended the scene.

Matthew Coker, 49, of Meadow Way, Jaywick, was subsequently arrested and later charged with five counts of theft and one count of breaching a suspended sentence.

He appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday and received eight weeks in prison for the theft offences.

He was also given a further three months behind bars in connection with the breach of his suspended sentence for a previous crime.