Serial shop thief caught stealing bags and purses
WOMAN WITH 90 OFFENCES OF STEALING WAS JUST OUT OF JAIL
A SERIAL shop thief once again proved she’d failed to change her ways after she was caught stealing £400 worth of purses and handbags.
Kerry Steele was locked up in April last year for throwing hand wash at a security guard as she tried to make off with a haul of booze from Sainsbury’s.
However, just weeks after her release, the 38-year-old was back up to her old tricks.
This time Steele, who has 90 offences for theft alone on her lengthy record, was spotted filling a carrier bag with £400 worth of handbags and purses at Boundary Mill, in Shiremoor, before trying to leave without paying.
Having targeted the same store just seven months earlier, Steele was a well-known face and she was quickly stopped by staff.
Now, Steele, of St John’s Green, in Percy Main, has been given a 12-month community order after she appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to one count of shop theft.
Robert Lawson, prosecuting, said Steele entered Boundary Mill at around 2pm on October 2 last year.
“She’s then taken purses and handbags to the value of £400,” Mr Lawson continued.
“She’s put them in a carrier bag and passes the payment points with no intention of paying.
“As she exited the shop, she was followed by staff and the goods were recovered.”
Mr Lawson said the offence was “significantly aggravated” by Steele’s extensive criminal history.
He added: “She has 90 theft offences on her record.
“In the last five years, there are nine, including two in 2020.
“Most recently, she was imprisoned for theft in April last year.”
The court heard that Steele was still on post sentence supervision but had been cooperating with the Probation Service. Liz Dunbar, defending, said: “Kerry previously had problems with drugs, hence her lengthy record. “However, the number of offences my friend referred to recently – nine in five years – is a reduction when her record is looked at as a whole. At the time of this offence, her brother was living with her and drinking with her. He did put some pressure on her to commit this offence.” Steele was also ordered to pay a £95 victim surcharge.
She’s taken purses and handbags to the value of £400. She put them in a carrier bag and passes the payment points with no intention of paying