Romanian immigrant Sofica Aolteanu faced Sheffield Magistrates yesterday charged with shoplifting from a Somerfield supermarket.Mrs Aolteanu (30) of Selbeck Road pleaded guilty to stealing £30 worth of groceries - mainly sweets and chocolate - from the shop on 22nd October.
She received a three-year conditional discharge, reduced to two years because of her guilty plea. Mrs Aolteanu will also pay £30 costs to cover the goods she stole.
The court heard that 25 items were found in a bag around her waist. A security officer stopped her after she paid for some shopping at the till. She said, “I have money. I can pay now when my husband arrives.”
When questioned by police Aolteanu said her children had told her to buy items she couldn’t afford. “I know I was wrong, I admit I stole the items,” she said.
Mr Gwynne, defending, said that when her children brought items to her she put them down but they kept bringing them to her. Magistrates were told that Mrs Aolteanu gave in when one of her children got upset. The child had recently been ill which upset her so she hid the sweets in her clothes.
The court heard how Aolteanu had previous shoplifting convictions. Magistrate Mr Cook said, “If you carry on shoplifting you may well go to prison.”
Mrs Aolteanu came to the UK in 1998. Her family lives on a weekly allowance of £215 from the National Asylum Association. The family’s application to stay in the UK has not yet been granted, meaning that she and her husband are unable to work.
As a result, a representative from the Probation Service advised against giving Aolteanu community service because she would not be granted a work permit and she would also require an interpreter.
Appealing to the magistrates, Mr Gwynne, defending, made it clear that his client’s last conditional discharge in 2004 was obeyed for its two-year duration. He suggested a financial penalty would ‘cause considerable disruption to the family’.
After giving his verdict, Mr Cooke said, “The message she must get is that she was very close to custody.”
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