A Romanian thief who has been convicted of shoplifting in five different European countries has been jailed in Britain after he stole £10,000 worth of perfume in one single raid.

Prolific Ionel Dulea 'literally shovelled' bottles of perfume and skincare products into a bag in the brazen theft from Boots, a court heard.

The 47 year old stole a staggering £10,790 worth of beauty products in the raid and admitted even he was stunned by the value of it all.

The theft in July 2024 was just one raid in a shoplifting spree that saw Dulea and his accomplices steal almost £25,000 worth of goods from Boots across five months.

Officers received reports that skincare products worth £2,099.29 were stolen from Boots in Andover on August 6. From the same store, skincare and cosmetic products worth £3,898 were stolen on June 10.

Winchester Crown Court, Hants, heard Dulea has been convicted of similar offences in France, Spain, Norway and Germany as well as his home country of Romania, where his wife and two children live.

He has now been jailed for two years at Winchester Crown Court and warned he may be deported.

The court heard Dulea stole almost £25,000 worth of products from Boots over a five-month period including skincare, cosmetics, perfumes and smoking items.

Prosecutor Luisa Rose said that Dulea stole £10,790 worth of skincare and perfume from a Boots in Fareham, Hants, in a single hit on July 20, 2024.

For the defence, Adrienne Knight said: "He really did have no idea that the figures had gone up to such high proportions."

He shoplifted from five different Boots stores which stretch 72 miles across the South of England between March 1, 2024, and August 10, 2024.

Ms Rose said of the spread of shops chosen: "It shows some planning and targeting of these Boots stores."

On some occasions Dulea would work with others to shoplift, but he mostly carried out his thefts alone.

"There's evidence that he is taking a leading role by virtue of the fact he's the common denominator in these proceedings," Ms Rose said.

Speaking about the £10,790 perfume theft, Ms Knight said: "He had no idea they had literally shovelled, with their arms, products into a large bag."

She said he sent 'at least half' of the money he obtained from the shoplifting spree back to his family in Romania.

She added: "The defendant is now 47 years of age and your honour should know he has two children and a wife and the money he has been able to raise from the shoplifting spree - at least half of it has been sent straight back to support his family.

"He lost his job, he was working in a car wash, having come to this country in 2020.

"He lost his job earlier in the year."

Dulea admitted nine counts of theft from a shop.

Judge Richard Tutt said there was no realistic prospect of rehabilitation for Dulea, who was previously convicted of shoplifting in Chichester, West Sussex, in 2020 and in Hampshire in 2021 and 2022.

His offending dates back to 2001, when he was first sent to prison for theft in his home country of Romania.

He has had 11 convictions for 12 offences since then.

Judge Tutt said: "During the period of just over five months you were involved in a campaign of shoplifting.

"You, together with others, were essentially professional thieves.

"You made it your work.

"The total value of goods stolen was £24,720."

The judge said Dulea will spend one year in custody, followed by a year out on a licence.

Judge Tutt said that this sentence puts Dulea at risk of deportation.