Prolific board games shoplifter avoids jail

A man who stole £3,000 worth of board games has been spared jail.

Paul Mangal, 58, of Haringey, north London, was given a suspended prison sentence after he admitted stealing family favourites including Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble and Pictionary.

He repeatedly targeted a Waterstone's shop in Crouch End since April 2023, before finally being caught in February this year, the Metropolitan Police said.

Mangal was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court.

He was also been banned from being in possession of a suitcase in two areas of Crouch End and Hornsey.

The Met said officers had worked with the bookstore throughout January, collecting CCTV to identify Mangal.

Then on 23 February, he entered the shop again and made off with several items in a suitcase.

Mangal, of Hornsey Rise Gardens, was arrested near his home and the next day pleaded guilty to 23 charges of theft.

Sgt James Elliot said: "Through building strong relationships with staff at this branch of Waterstones, we were able to identify Mangal by assessing his patterns of offending, which appeared to ramp up before, during and immediately after Christmas, then almost daily up until his arrest."

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