THREE thieves have been jailed after nearly £2,000 of coats were stolen from a town centre store in one day.

Jonathan Hodson, Anthony Howell and John Mannion were all caged at Warrington Magistrates Court on Saturday, April 3, after the spate of shoplifting at Go Outdoors on Wilson Patten Street.

The previous day, Good Friday, 46-year-old Hodson pinched £1,310 of Gortex jackets from the shop.

When challenged, he was found to be in possession of a magnet which had been used in order to remove security tags from the goods.

On the same day, Howell and Mannion – from Manchester – took two Rab jackets valued at £550 from the same store.

All of the stolen items were subsequently recovered.

Hodson, of Bolton, admitted theft, going equipped for theft and failing to comply with supervision requirements – having only been released from a 12-week prison sentence in late January.

He was handed a further 18 weeks behind bars and was told to pay a £128 victim surcharge, while magistrates also ordered the forfeiture of the magnet.

Howell was jailed for 14 weeks after admitting theft, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

The 56-year-old was also banned from driving for a further six months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £128.

Forfeiture of a pair of wire cutters found in his possession was ordered.

Mannion, 54, admitted theft and going equipped for theft – having been carrying silver foil which can be used to bypass security scanners.

He too was jailed for 14 weeks and told to pay a £128 victim surcharge.

Forfeiture of the foil was also ordered by the court.