A SHOPKEEPER described as a modern day Fagin paid children to shoplift goods -- before he sold them again in his store.
Akhtar Adad, 32, was said to have an army of little Artful Dodgers to help him with the stealing spree.
The con meant unsuspecting shoppers at Adad's store, A & B Foods, St Huberts Road, Great Harwood, were buying stolen goods including shampoo, chocolate and fizzy drinks.
Adad pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to four counts of handling stolen goods.
The married father was bailed for sentencing on May 14.
Today police said Adad's young shoplifters had targeted almost every small store in Great Harwood. They said he was eventually caught by leaving a price sticker from another shop on a bottle of shampoo.
PC Helen Jackson said he had been paying Great Harwood's children and drug-users to steal from the town's shops for resale so he could cut costs.
She said Adad had employed scores of youngsters but many of the "little Artful Dodgers" would never be caught.
PC Jackson said they first became aware of the problem in May last year when the town witnessed a huge rise in cases of shoplifting.
After talking to a number of youngsters they realised that Adad was a the ring leader, but it took four months of investigation to catch him.
She said today: "We had information it was going on, it was just difficult to get the evidence -- in the end he slipped up.
"Some children had stolen cans of cola from another shop, but we were able to trace the bar codes.
"He gave us permission to look around his shop and we found bottles of shampoo with stickers from Whitehead Grocers still on. His shop was full, there were loads of drinks and chocolate and also loads of tins of shoe polish and other bits and pieces."
But PC Jackson said that was not the end of their find because Adad had acquired so much loot he had to change his house into a black-market warehouse.
She said: "We found his front room filled with boxes of stolen goods. His floor was completely covered and there were lots of boxes piled up on his chairs and furniture.
"There was everything you could imagine, Kit-Kats, Twix, cola, shampoo, tights, cleaning products, toys, you name he had it.
"He was a modern-day Fagin who used his army of little Artful Dodgers to get what he wanted."
She said they were pleased he pleaded guilty because he was not only threatening the livelihood of the town's honest shopkeepers but ruining the lives of many youngsters.
PC Jackson added: "Some children have now got used to the life of having £100 in their pocket ready to be spent on a day-bunk to Blackpool or to buy of cigarettes.
"They have criminal records and people will always know of them as thieves and criminals.
"He was also ruining a lot of the hard work we were doing with the town's children and the schools. We're just glad that he has been stopped."
Gary Bamber, manager of Whitehead Grocers, Lomax Square, Great Harwood, said: "God knows how long he was doing it. He's robbed everyone blind and nearly shut us all down."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article