Teen's £300 town-centre theft spree for birthday presents

Natalie Stokes, 19, formerly of Beech Tree Avenue in Mansfield Woodhouse, was caught with more than £300 worth of perfume and clothes she had taken over a matter of hours.

Appearing before Mansfield Magistrates’ Court she admitted stealing £209 worth of perfume from Debenhams in Mansfield’s Four Seasons Shopping Centre.

She also admitted taking clothes worth almost £60 from New Look on Westgate and jeans and jewellery worth £52 from River Island, also in the Four Seasons.

The court was told how she was spotted by a security guard in Debenhams putting perfume into her basket, before going into the changing rooms.

She was then seen only paying for two items of jewellery before leaving.

She was apprehended and found to have a bag containing the clothes and perfume taken from other shops. All of the items stolen were recovered.

Mitigating, Nicola Thorpe, said: “It’s all been a bit of a shock to her system and is completely out of character.

“She was between jobs, money was tight and she had birthdays of family and friends coming up.

“Looking back she can’t believe she did what she did.”

She said that Stokes, who had since moved to Hinshelwood Court in Clifton, had secured a job as a technical support advisor for a pensions company.

She was fined £200 and made to pay £115 in costs.