The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word KLEPTOMANIAC
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
K
L
E
P
T
O
M
A
N
I
A
C
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Habitual thief" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case habitual thief = kleptomaniac.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.