A shoplifter has been jailed and banned from every Boots store after stealing £107,000 worth of goods from the high street chain.

Liam Hutchinson, 32, of no fixed address, was sentenced to a year in prison at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

He was also issued with a criminal behaviour order, banning him from every Boots store in the UK for 10 years – and the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea for five years.

Metropolitan Police detectives trawled through hours of CCTV footage to find that Hutchinson had committed 99 shoplifting offences at Boots stores in the borough between May and August 2025.

Often stealing large quantities of razors and electrical items, his crimes cost the retailer £107,000 in revenue, Sergeant Jack Vine, of the Met’s volume crime team said.

“We recognised the impact Hutchinson’s actions were having on the retailer, and through working with staff, we built a strong case of evidence against him, which has been reflected in his sentencing,” he added.

“This result should act as a warning that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated, and that we will come down hard on those who show a complete disregard for the law, terrorise retail workers and cost businesses thousands of pounds.”

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Nicky Harrop, head of security, fraud, and contract management at Boots, said the company have been investing “significantly” in anti-theft measures to make sure stores “remain a safe and respectful environment” for customers and staff.

The Met says it is prioritising shoplifting, having solved 163% more cases in London compared to the same time last year.

It is also dedicating up to 80 additional officers across London’s West End, with 90 more in high-risk theft areas.

Sky News has reached a multi-year deal with one of the most influential US news networks, which will see it pay for use of its cross-platform coverage. 

The channel’s live broadcasts, TV packages and online journalism are to be used by MSNBC as part of a commercial agreement, the details of which were not disclosed.

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All Sky News’ British and foreign TV coverage is included in the agreement, which will begin on 1 October, further bringing the reporting to a US audience.

MSNBC will have no role in the commissioning of Sky coverage, and no MSNBC programming will be taken by Sky News, as part of the arrangement.

MSNBC is building up its operations ahead of its planned spin-off from NBC News and parent company Comcast.

The new, separated entity will be named Versant and be a public company with shares traded on a stock exchange.

Comcast is also the parent company of Sky News. Sky’s relationship with its sister news organisation NBC will be unaffected by the deal.

More than 500 journalists work for Sky News from 11 bureaus, including Moscow, Beijing, Jerusalem, and Johannesburg.

MSNBC is a major cable news network, watched by an average of 1.2 million viewers a day, so far this year, with its average viewer watching for more than eight hours a week.

Its YouTube and TikTok channels have more than 6.2 billion views combined so far this year.

“In this moment of consequential and historic news events happening around the world that are rapidly reshaping our collective future, we are honoured to bring Sky News’ premium, on-the-ground reporting and roster of top journalists to the MSNBC community,” said MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler.

The corporate turnaround expert who presided over the break-up and sale of De La Rue, the Bank of England’s currency printer, is to take the helm at the troubled Scottish broadcaster STV Group.

Sky News has learnt that Clive Whiley is to be parachuted in as the new chairman of STV, whose Two Cities production company is responsible for the hit BBC police drama Blue Lights.

An announcement could come as soon as the media group’s half-year results on Thursday, one City insider said on Wednesday evening.

Sources close to one of STV’s top investors said that Mr Whiley had been asked to consider taking on the role amid mounting concern over its performance.

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He is expected to replace Paul Reynolds, the former BT Wholesale chief executive who has chaired STV since 2021.

Shares in STV Group have fallen by more than 50% during the last year, leaving the company with a market capitalisation of little more than £54m.

The company’s largest shareholders include Slater Investments and Aberforth Partners.

Mr Whiley remains chairman of Mothercare, the listed retailer, and Griffin Mining, which is also quoted on the London Stock Exchange.

Earlier this year, he oversaw the sale of De La Rue’s currency business to Atlas Holdings, a US-based private equity investor, for more than £260m.

Combined with the proceeds from the earlier sale of its authentication business, the disposals significantly exceeded investors’ expectations.

If confirmed in the STV role as expected, Mr Whiley will have another challenging turnaround job on his hands.

In July, the company which holds the ITV licence in parts of Scotland issued a bleak profit warning, saying that “as a result of a further deterioration in the commissioning and advertising markets towards the end of [the first half of the financial year] and into [the second half], our expectations for full-year revenue and adjusted operating profit are expected to be materially below consensus”.

Rufus Radcliffe, STV’s chief executive, said in the same statement: “The deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop continues to lower business confidence impacting both markets in which we operate.

“We’re making good progress in combining and streamlining our Broadcast and Digital businesses into a new Audience division, and launch plans for the creation of our radio station are going well, with key appointments made and infrastructure plans forging ahead.”

He added that its Studios arm’s delivery schedule had been hit by the UK commissioning market, “which has further weakened at the end of H1 and into the second half of the year”.

“However, in addition to winning new and repeat business in H1, we have completed production on key titles with international appeal, including high-end drama Amadeus for Sky and a third series of Blue Lights for BBC One, with the second series of The Fortune Hotel airing on ITV and STV this summer – and our development pipeline is strong.”

STV has evolved substantially from its origins in the 1950s, having changed its corporate name on several occasions since.

It has owned assets spanning the newspaper, advertising and radio sectors.

On Wednesday, the stock closed at just under 112p, down more than 3% on the day.

A spokesperson for STV declined to comment.