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22
May
Sisters admit thefts at Harrogate supermarket
Two sisters have admitted to jointly committing thefts at a Harrogate supermarket.
Rebecca Johnson, 31, and Kimberley Ellis, 42, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court yesterday (May 21), when they each pleaded guilty to two counts of shop theft.
Anthony Farrell, prosecuting, told the court the sisters entered Sainsbury’s on Railway Road, just off Wetherby Road, at around 2.20pm on January 8 this year.
As they filled a trolley with items, the sisters used a self-scanning device to scan some of the items they picked up.
However, the defendants didn’t scan £14 worth of items, including Coca Cola and Doritos, and left the store without paying for them.
Johnson and Ellis returned to the supermarket on January 13, when they carried out a similar low-value operation.
Mr Farrell said the sisters scanned around £10 worth of items, but they didn’t pay for the rest of the items in their trolley, which were valued at £12.
The court also heard Johnson, of Dawson Terrace in Harrogate, and Ellis, of Meadow Vale in Green Hammerton, went back to the Sainsbury’s store once again the following day.
Mr Farrell said the sisters again left the store without paying for goods, but, on this occasion, the police gave the women a community resolution.
This means they weren't charged and were instead dealt with out of court.
Both women were 'struggling'
Chris McGrogan, defending, told the court:
This is a case where both ladies, who are sisters, have gone shopping and one of them has used a scanning device. They both put items in the trolley, but they haven’t paid for all of them.
Mr McGrogan reiterated that the women were given a community resolution for the January 14 theft, which he said was a "significant wake-up call for both of them".
He added:
It would appear the reason why a community resolution was not imposed for the two matters today is because they didn’t admit the matters from January 8 and 14.
But they were not legally represented [at the time].
The court heard the women were “both struggling” at the time of the thefts due to the anniversary of their mother’s death.
Mr McGrogan said the women are both under “significant financial stress”, and “weren’t thinking clearly” at the time of the offences.
He said Johnson has no previous convictions, while Ellis has not been before the courts for more than a decade.
“They say this was a blip, but they accept responsibility and hold their hands up”, the court heard.
Mr McGrogan also told the court Sainsbury’s has contacted both women and “demanded £200 from each of them... bailiffs have been mentioned”.
He added:
They do not seek to provide a case and, with the benefit of hindsight, if they had admitted these [two offences] to the police, they would have got a community resolution and this wouldn’t have come to court.
Johnson’s good character was taken into account at sentence and she was handed an eight-month conditional discharge.
Ellis, who already had a criminal record, was given a 12-month conditional discharge.
The women were each ordered to pay £13 in compensation to Sainsbury’s, a £26 surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs.
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