Shoplifter gets 13 months’ jail
NINETEEN thefts over seven months made Walter Phillip Poutama Dunedin’s ‘‘most prolific shoplifter’’ — and now he is behind bars.
The 47yearold appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday on 16 counts of shoplifting, three burglaries and a trespass, which took place between November 3 last year and June 5.
Judge Kevin Phillips sentenced Poutama to 13 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay $1753, the value of the numerous items he stole during his lightfingered spree.
The defendant’s crimes ranged from simply pocketing goods in supermarkets and walking out to slightly more sophisticated thefts.
Poutama would watch staff in some department stores while he removed security tags using a tool, court documents said.
‘‘Depending on the size and quantity of the items he either concealed the property within his clothing, tucked it into his satchel or in the case of large items carried them in his hands,’’ a police summary said.
Poutama was finally stopped on June 5 when he targeted New World in central Dunedin.
He wandered through the supermarket, placing 19 items in his basket, then he transferred them to his shoulder bag.
When challenged by security, he returned the basket but made off with the stolen groceries.
Prosecutor Sergeant Chris George previously told the court Poutama was ‘‘the most prolific shoplifter we have on our books’’.
The court heard the defendant wanted to make a fresh start away from Dunedin once he was released.
Judge Phillips ordered the reparation total be paid off at $5 a week from Poutama’s benefit.
At that rate, it will take him six years to settle the debt.