Hard-up tourists turn to shoplifting

Three tourists have been caught putting grocery items down their pants in the latest case of foreign shoplifters in Blenheim.

Felix Kopmann, 18, Lukas Harald Kolb, 19, and Jonas Roth, 20, admitted shoplifting charges at the Blenheim District Court on Monday. The trio are from Germany and in New Zealand on a working holiday.

A police summary of facts said the trio went to a Blenheim supermarket three times in two weeks to steal food.

Each time, they placed grocery items down their pants and left the store without paying.

They stole between $20 and $60 worth of groceries each time, from February 15 to 28.

Kopmann returned to the supermarket by himself a fourth time on February 27 about 6.30pm, taking a chocolate bar and a snack bar. Their lawyer, Kent Arnott, told the court the men were struggling financially at the time and admitted their actions were wrong.

Six other overseas travellers have been convicted at the Blenheim District Court this year for shoplifting.

John’s Kitchen co-ordinator Janette Walker said some backpackers used the charity’s free meal service when they ran out of money. Younger backpackers sometimes arrived in New Zealand thinking they would get a job to fund their travels but struggled to find one, she said.

French travellers Jeremy Segui and Chantal Barbier had been in New Zealand for five months, holidaying and working on farms to save money.

They stayed in their car when necessary and were careful to budget every day, Segui said. ‘‘We don’t spend a lot of money. ‘‘We camp at a free camp, we go to the secondhand shops . . . there are lots of free things to do.’’

They were disappointed to hear travellers were shoplifting because they had run out of money.

‘‘It’s not a reason. You can find some jobs. New Zealand is so safe and the people are so kind.

‘‘Don’t do that here,’’ Barbier said.

A Immigration NZ spokesman said people entering New Zealand on a temporary visa had to prove they had sufficient funds to support their stay.

This required $1000 per month for ‘‘maintenance and accommodation’’, or $400 per month if accommodation was prepaid.

They could also be required to produce evidence of a means to leave, which could mean travel tickets, the spokesman said.

Judge Tony Zohrab told the shoplifters they had let themselves down as well as other German tourists.

They were each ordered to pay emotional harm payments of $250 for the store manager to put into the staff social fund.

‘‘It’s the poor people at the checkout that have to deal with people like yourselves,’’ he said.

Zohrab also advised them to make the reparation and emotional harm payments before they left, or they would be stopped at the border.