Sex pest who was once dubbed Britain's most prolific shoplifter and has a criminal history tracing back 50 years dies in prison

A sex offender once regarded as Britain's most prolific shoplifter has died in prison, bringing to an end a criminal career that spanned for more than half a century. Harry Hankinson, who amassed more than 500 convictions over five decades, died aged 78 in West Yorkshire's HMP Wakefield while serving a 14-year sentence for attempted rape and sexual assaults. Hankinson, of Miles Platting, Manchester, spent much of his adult life in and out of custody, building a criminal record that stretched back to 1970 and ultimately included 523 convictions, 433 of them for theft.His death on August 16 is currently under investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, as to procedure. In November 2021, Bolton Crown Court sentenced Hankinson to 14 years' imprisonment after a jury convicted him of attempted rape and four counts of sexual assault against vulnerable women.The court heard that in February 2017, while a patient in hospital, he was stopped by a nursing assistant as he forced a 61-year-old woman to perform a sex act on him. The member of staff led the woman from the room and raised the alarm.Prosecutors also outlined a series of offences against another woman, whom Hankinson first assaulted in May 2017 after inviting her to his flat for a microwave meal. The sex pest then pressed himself against her back before touching her inappropriately.Three years later, when the victim was 70, he again sexually assaulted her at her home, exposing himself and forcing her to touch him without consent. She fought him off, stabbing him in the hand with a fork before a neighbour's knock at the door prompted him to leave. Harry Hankinson, who amassed more than 500 convictions over five decades, died aged 78 in West Yorkshire's HMP Wakefield while serving a 14-year sentence for attempted rape and sexual assaultsHankinson was arrested a few days later on suspicion of sexual assault. Further allegations emerged during the police investigation, including from a carer who said Hankinson had behaved in a sexually aggressive manner towards her - pulling her on top of him as she went to wake him up in his care home.Sentencing him in 2021, the court concluded that he posed a significant danger to women. Detective Constable Emma Cooper of Greater Manchester Police described him as 'a sexual predator who preys on vulnerable victims'.She added: 'His actions are despicable and unwarranted, causing a number of women to feel violated and unsafe.'Hopefully this sentencing today sends a clear message that sexual assault is absolutely not acceptable and anyone who engages in this criminal behaviour will be brought to justice to face the consequences for their actions.' For years Hankinson was regarded as one of the country's most persistent shoplifters, repeatedly targeting shops despite prison terms, curfews, anti-social behaviour orders and bans designed to keep him away from the high street. Hankinson regularly blamed his behaviour on an irresistible compulsion to steal and claimed to suffer from kleptomania - a mental health condition defined by an uncontrollable urge to steal items you do not need - although psychiatric assessments found no evidence of the condition. The pensioner walked free from Tameside Magistrates' Court in 2019 after claiming his decades-long shoplifting spree stemmed from a serious head injury he suffered while watching England at the 1970 World Cup. Hankinson arrived at Tameside Magistrates Court in 2019He claimed he banged his head in the incident which caused a 'change in his personality' and turned him into a kleptomaniac with an 'uncontrollable' urge to steal. Judges variously described him as an 'indiscriminate thief' and a menace to shopowners, having even taken his unsuspecting wife Linda Hankinson on a shoplifting jaunt during a sightseeing coach trip. Speaking after one of his many jail terms in the 1990s, Linda previously said she hardly knew him because he had spent so much of their marriage in prison.In 1996, his offending became so prolific Linda condemned an 18-week sentence he received for stealing cigarettes, spirits and groceries as insubstantial.She said: 'He should have got at least 18 months. The only way he will stop is by being in prison. If he's in there long enough he might stop and think and get some proper help while he's locked up.'When he's out after short stretches it's just too easy for him to go and do it again. I can't tell you much about him because I don't really know him, he's been in and out of Strangeways so much. The person who's suffering out of all this is me.'In 2008, Linda was unwittingly caught up in another thieving expedition when she and her husband went to Ripon, North Yorkshire, for a day out by a coach - to celebrate his release from another prison stretch.In 2014, Hankinson was jailed for 16 months and given a two year Anti-Social Behaviour Order banning him from shops in Bolton town centre.But in 2015, and after being freed early from jail, he was caught wandering through the self check-outs at Morrisons in the town, cradling a bottle of Glenfiddich whisky.He had hidden several bottles of whisky and vodka, worth £79.07 under his coat and was arrested after he was spotted by security staff.In April 2015, Hankinson was given a three month curfew ordering him to stay at home from noon until 8pm when shops are open for the afternoon and early evening.But he was caught stealing again in June that year at Iceland's Farnworth branch.At an earlier hearing, Judge Peter Davies said: 'He is an indiscriminate thief and he shouldn't be let near the shops.'It has affected the community of traders and everybody agrees he shouldn't go around thieving. He is a risk to retailers - I have never seen anything like it.'This is a truly exceptional case, he has had every spindle opportunity not to commit these offences. Now he is stealing high value items.'He told Hankinson: 'It's theft, it's dishonesty and you are indiscriminate, targeting retail premises whether well known, international stores or ordinary traders.'Some of the victims of your thefts are institutions that can cover the loss but that doesn't take away the fact that you are a pest, you keep coming back for more.'Everything that has been done for you has failed, you keep coming back for more. I think there is no other way of protecting these traders,'One look at your antecedents means that it is totally hopeless. You say this is impulsive that you can't help yourself. This is your occupation, you target shops.'In separate dates in February 2014, Hankinson stole meat from Sainsbury's worth £110, alcohol from Aldi worth £91, clothes to the value of £172.96 from Marks and Spencer and the following day went into Selfridges in Manchester where he stole a watch worth £1,900.He also stole a handbag and two purses from the store totalling £570. While on bail he stole £335 worth of perfume from House of Fraser in Manchester.At a hearing in 2014 his counsel Mr Bob Elias said his client had been a voluntary in patient at a psychiatric hospital, but had not been diagnosed to have the condition of kleptomania.Mr Elias added: 'He seemed to think that would stop him going to shops. He has a compulsion for theft not the profit.'