Wrexham,North Wales - Woman carried out 'bizarre' theft of bottle of wine from Chirk store

Published date: 06 October 2016 | 

Published by: Staff reporter
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A WOMAN who was prosecuted for shoplifting had the money and the intention to pay for the goods, a court was told.

Wrexham Magistrates Court heard Rhoda Jones, of Sycamore Drive, Chirk, had gone into the Co-op store on Holyhead Road in Chirk to buy milk. 

While waiting in the queue, she took a bottle of wine and put it inside her jacket.

Jones, 33, pleaded guilty to the theft from the shop on September 21.

Prosecutor Rhian Jackson said Jones was seen to walk into the store by the team manager, who was busy putting items out on display.

The court heard the manager was suspicious as Jones had been caught shoplifting before. She was monitored on the store’s CCTV system.

Jones was seen to join the queue to pay for her items and on the CCTV was shown to pick up a bottle of wine and put it inside her jacket before zipping it up.

She was stopped upon leaving the store and originally denied doing anything wrong.

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But the court heard when confronted with the fact she had been recorded on CCTV, she removed the wine from her coat and produced a can of cola which was also in her pocket.

The total values of the items amounted to £7.68, Ms Jackson said.

Stephen Edwards, defending, said his client had told him she had no idea why she had stolen the items as she had the money to pay for them.

Mr Edwards said: “It’s bizarre in the circumstances. 

“She gets to the queue to pay for a bottle of milk and while she’s in the queue, she has picked out and put a bottle of wine in her jacket, something which would have been noticed even without CCTV.”

He added his client has been suffering from mental and physical health problems for a number of years which have caused her depression.

Mr Edwards said although neither he nor Jones could offer any explanation as to why she did what she did, her state of mind at the time may have been a factor.

Chairman of the magistrates’ bench Albert Hughes gave Jones a six-month conditional discharge and ordered her to pay a £20 surcharge and £85 costs.

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