Former Wem man jailed for 21 months after robbing sports store – Whitchurch Herald

         <span class="mar-article__timestamp">                                  <time datetime="2025-11-12 05:00:00"                     data-format="article-display"                     data-show-date="always"                     data-show-time="today-only"                     data-timestamp="1762923600"                     itemprop="datePublished"                     class="author-details__timestamp formatTimeStampEs6"                     full-date="10.11.2025">&nbsp;                 </time>                              </span>             <!-- standard - ArticleTags.html --> <div class="article-tags" role="listitem"><a href="/topics/shrewsbury-crown-court/">Shrewsbury Crown Court</a></div>                              <!-- standard - ArticleTags.html --> <div class="article-tags" role="listitem"><a href="/topics/sports-direct/">Sports Direct</a></div>                              <!-- standard - ArticleTags.html --> <div class="article-tags" role="listitem"><a href="/topics/court/">Court</a></div>                              <!-- standard - ArticleTags.html --> <div class="article-tags" role="listitem"><a href="/topics/crime/">Crime</a></div>                              <!-- standard - ArticleTags.html --> <div class="article-tags" role="listitem"><a href="/local-news/wem-news/">Wem</a></div>         <br>   A former Wem man has been jailed for 21 months after he admitted robbing a sports clothing shop in Shrewsbury. <br>   Aaron Bate, of no fixed abode, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday (November 10) after he admitted robbing Sports Direct in Meole Brace on June 11, this year. <br>   The 33-year-old, who appeared via video link from HMP Hewell in Redditch, had previously pleaded guilty to the offence on the basis that he had not entered the store with the intention of violence or of hurting anyone. <br>   But the court was told store manager Paige Roberts had been injured after he barged past her as she tried to stop him from leaving. <br>     <strong>COURT NEWS:</strong>   <br>   CCTV shown to the court showed Bate and two others entering the shop and collecting items, before making their way to the door. <br>   The court was told Ms Roberts had been wary of the trio's behaviour and set the shop doors to manual, but Bate reached over her and pulled them apart, before knocking her to the ground. <br>   Alexa Carrier, prosecuting, said £607 worth of goods were taken during the incident. <br>   She added that during police interview, the defendant had admitted theft, but denied using violence. <br>   Reading his statement out, she the court: "At no point did I use any force or violence, or cause the female to fall to the floor, I was just simply trying to get out of the store. I did not touch her at any time." <br>   Ms Carrier also read a statement from Ms Roberts in which she said she had pain in her lower back from where she landed for about a week after the incident and that she felt "paranoid" that it could happen again. <br>     <strong>OTHER NEWS:</strong>   <br>   Danny Smith, for Bate, said his client had spent five months on remand and it was time "well spent" and had found himself a job in the prison laundry. <br>   Mr Smith explained that during that time, Bate had become drug-free, which was not the case when the offence was committed. <br>   He said: "He committed this offence with a rife drug addiction, homeless, and felt he had no other choice but to go and do what he did. <br>   "But aside from shifting that shame onto others and justifying his actions, in the pre-sentence report, he has shown feelings towards the victim in this case and says he felt sorry for her." <br>   <strong>Help support trusted local news</strong> <br>   Sign up for a digital subscription now: <a href="https://www.whitchurchherald.co.uk/subscribe/" target="_blank">www.whitchurchherald.co.uk/subscribe/</a> <br>   As a digital subscriber you will get <br>   Judge Meegan noted Bate's "long list" of previous shoplifting offences, adding: "You are of a high risk of reoffending, of course you are, until drugs are under control that will remain." <br>   Sentencing Bate to 21 months in prison, he said: "It cannot be suspended. There is a clear need for punishment. There is a clear need for deterrent sentencing for shoplifting, and in my judgement, there is not at the moment a realistic prospect of rehabilitation." <br>   Bate will serve up to half before serving the remainder on licence. <br>   Judge Meegan also ordered a victim surcharge, the amount of which will be drawn up by the court at a later date. <br>This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's     Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to     inaccuracy or intrusion, then please <a class="footer__ipso-terms--link" href="/contact">     contact the editor here</a>.     If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can     <a class="footer__ipso-terms--link" href="https://www.ipso.co.uk/contact-us/" target="_block">contact IPSO here</a><br><strong>&copy; 2001-2025. 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