A accountant from Coventry has been jailed after stealing over 6000 pieces of lingerie from Marks & Spencer.

Marks & Spencer Lingerie

David O’Connell, said to have a “sexual fetish for women’s clothing” has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after stealing lingerie totalling near £120,000. The 48-year-old had amassed an “Aladdin’s cave” of ladies wear to satisfy his fetish for wearing it himself.

His secret emerged when he was caught stealing some dresses, 3 tops and a skirt from an M&S store in Leicester. Following his arrest police searched his home to find a huge collection of stolen lingerie. His stash included lingerie of all shades and sizes which he had built up over 2 and a half years. Leicester Crown Court heard yesterday O’Connell, a £40,000p.a. finance director, would wear the clothes for sexual gratification.

There were 6,400 items, all of female clothing, all from Marks and Spencer and all brand-new. Many items were the same. The amount was overwhelming. The officers looked in the loft and saw bags and boxes filling one side of the roof. They saw huge amounts of new clothing, much of it with the tags still attached and still on hangers, in wardrobes, boxes and bags.

3 months after he was initially arrested and his haul confiscated, he was caught trying to start a new collection, stealing more lingerie form an M&S in Birmingham. Why he always chose M&S was not revealed.