Shoplifter smuggled gin bottles past supermarket cashier
A thief used paying for some smaller items at a supermarket checkout as a distraction for sneaking out eight bottles of stolen gin.
Lyndsey Halliwell appeared to be paying for the contents of her trolley but was really sneaking the booze, hidden in her bag, passed the cashier.
And 30-year-old mum would have been successful without being caught – except greed got the better of her and she returned to the same Aldi store five days later to use the same tactic.
This time, she was caught trying to steal six bottles of gin by a suspicious cashier and detained.
North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard Halliwell was then also identified as the culprit for the first theft.
Now, Halliwell, of High Meadows, in Kenton, has been ordered to pay £132 compensation after she pleaded guilty to one count of shop theft and one of attempted shop theft.
Prosecutor, Leanne Duffy, said Halliwell first entered the Aldi store, in Fawdon, Newcastle, on August 13 last year.
“The following day, the assistant manager was at work and viewed CCTV and it showed the defendant concealing eight bottles of gin in a black bag in her trolley,” Miss Duffy continued. “She paid for smaller items at the checkout but made off without paying for the gin.”
The court heard that, just five days later on August 18, Halliwell returned to the same store, this time hiding six bottles of booze in the same black bag.
Miss Duffy added: “The defendant again tried to pay for some items at the checkout but an assistant asked her what was in the black bag. She tried to carry on through the checkout but was stopped by a cashier.”
Although the second haul of alcohol was recovered, the first, worth £132, was not.
Annalisa Moscardini, mitigating, said there had been a problem with Halliwell’s Universal Credit at the time and she wasn’t being paid what she should. The solicitor added: “She’s stolen bottles of gin she can sell on to make a little bit of money. She accepts it’s not right behaviour but she was struggling to cope.”
Ordering her to pay the compensation, District Judge Paul Currer said: “I take onboard what has been said on your behalf and that there was a problem with you Universal Credit, which made you struggle financially.”