Robert Knowles , 68 , is a serial shoplifter who has clocked up nearly 350 offences since 1959 . Britain 's most persistent crook with a criminal career spanning 50 years has been jailed again after his 190th court appearance . Robert Knowles , 68 , from Plymouth , Devon , is a serial shoplifter who first broke the law when he was 13 and has been in court at least once a year since 1959 . The pensioner has broken the law so many times that prosecutors have lost track of his expansive record , which includes 200 thefts and dozens more for other dishonest offences . It is believed Knowles has now clocked up in the region of 350 offences over his lifetime . He pleaded guilty to stealing a watch and a pair of cuff links worth £50 from H Samuel in the city centre at Plymouth Magistrates Court in his most recent offence and jailed for 16 weeks . The court heard he had only recently been released from a six week jail sentence imposed by the same court and was told he must pay an £80 victim surcharge . Knowles , who has spent most of his adult life in prison , had been living briefly in a hostel in Plymouth before the thefts on March 14 . Defence lawyers say the pensioner only goes between 24 and 72 hours before he is rearrested after each court appearance . 'Nobody knows why he does it , ' his long-term solicitor Alan Harris said . 'Nobody knows whether he is effectively waiting to die in prison . ' At a previous court hearing , Mr Harris told magistrates Knowles is an alcoholic who 'recognises himself as institutionalised ' and steals to go back to jail . In 2013 he was caught stealing two boxes of chocolate from Thorntons but despite eating the £13 chocolates in the street , a security guard let him off with a warning . He then went to a nearby Tesco Metro and walked out with £26 of food - prompting staff to call police . And in 2011 , Knowles admitted stealing two bottles of whiskey , watches and socks worth £279 from Marks and Spencer . During that hearing at the same court , Mr Harris said : ‘ He can cope very easily with prison but can not cope very well with the world outside . 'This is as bleak a plea and mitigation as this court can ever wish to hear. ’ Knowles left prison six months later and committed another shoplifting offence within a week , this time stealing a watch , sunglasses , underwear and socks worth £79 . He pleaded guilty to stealing a watch and a pair of cuff links worth £50 from H Samuel in the city centre at Plymouth Magistrates Court in his most recent offence and jailed for 16 weeks . The Crown Prosecution Service can not give a full breakdown of his offences because so many of them they pre-date its creation in 1986 . Knowles , who was sent to a correctional school in 1959 , has been one of several criminals to win the dubious honour of being named 'Britain 's most prolific thief ' . Those with an even worse record include Bolton kleptomaniac Harry Hankinson , 64 - who in June blamed his 501 crimes on a blow to the head in 1970 which changed his personality . And in March David Archer , from Prestatyn , North Wales , clocked up his 343rd offence - just edging out competition from Knowles .
Robert Knowles , 68 , from Plymouth , first broke the law when he was just 13 . He was jailed for 16 weeks for stealing watch and cuff links in recent crime . Pensioner has broken law before but not as bad as this time.