Shoplifter who stole £10,000 of make-up from Boots stores finally caught in Mansfield

Dumitra Iorgu emptied about £2,000 of skin care products and cosmetics from the No7 display into a black bag at the shop on St Peter’s Retail Park, on May 13, before swapping it for an empty bag with another woman,

Her accomplice left the store without paying and Iorgu stayed to fill up a second bag, but the pair were arrested 20 minutes later.

Eight other offences were committed in exactly the same way at Boots on Coney Street, York city centre.

In total the pair stole about £9,799 of goods, using a lined bag to prevent the scanners being triggered, between February 15 and M arch 31 when a security officer who had been monitoring the thefts since the outset recognised and detained her.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Iorgu, aged 37, was fined for theft and going equipped for theft, in January.

“She made admissions when she was arrested and said she was under pressure to pay her rent and couldn’t afford to feed her children.”

Iorgu, of Cottage Beck Road, Scunthorpe, admitted nine thefts at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.

Laura Pitman, mitigating, said Iorgu arrived from Romania in December 2020, after her husband left her and she experienced financial difficulties.

She worked in a warehouse until she could afford to bring her three children to the UK. However, her rent and bills went up and her outgoings exceeded her income and they were evicted.

Ms Pitman said: “Her co-defendant is another woman who was in the same position. She has no previous convictions in her own country.

“Iorgu doesn’t offer this as an excuse, but to explain how she has ended up in custody at the age she is.”

She has now spent three months in custody where she is trying to learn English.

Judge Nirmal Shant KC sentenced her to eight months’ jail, suspended for two years, with 100 hours of unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation days.

The judge told Iorgu: “Understand this. If you go stealing again you will come back before me and you will have to serve a further custodial sentence.”