Jarrow thief who owes the courts more than £16,000 caught stealing corned beef
A South Tyneside thief who owes the courts over £16,100 from past misdemeanours pinched five cans of corned beef out of “desperation”, a court heard.
Samantha Slack, 35, swiped the items from the shelves of B&M’s store at the Viking shopping centre in Jarrow – and scarpered without paying the £10.
Slack, of Cleveland Court, Jarrow, committed the offence on Monday, January 12, but failed to attend South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to hear the case against her.
Magistrates agreed it should go ahead in her absence after prosecutor John Garside assured them all relevant legal documents had been posted to her home in advance.
They heard she owes a total of £16,160, mainly from being caught using the Tyne and Wear Metro rail service without a ticket.
Magistrates then made her debt worse by adding another £179 in fines and other punishment charges after finding a single count of shop theft proven in her absence.
Mr Garside told the hearing: “The manager was working at 7.05pm and he says the defendant selected five tins of corned beef from the shelves and left without making payment.
“The manager has then identified the defendant. She is well known in the area.
“The defendant was subsequently interviewed by the police and stated that she was desperate and had no permission to take the items.
“Given the evidence from this member of staff, the crown would ask the court to find the case proven.
“The crown would ask the court to instruct compensation of £10. The defendant does have previous convictions.
“She was last before the court in August last year for two offences of theft from a shop, for which a compensation order was made.”
Details of Slack’s huge debt was given by the clerk of the court when summing up the case to magistrates and was described as “extraordinarily high”.
She confirmed most stemmed from travel ticket non-payment and that magistrates at a previous hearing had waived some of the money she owed, reducing the amount.
Magistrates ordered Slack to pay £10 compensation to B&M, and fined her £60, with £85 court costs and a £24 victim surcharge.
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