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Woman Banned From Every Shop In Her Town After Being Caught Shoplifting

Woman Banned From Every Shop In Her Town After Being Caught Shoplifting

The magistrate said: “If she doesn't go into retail premises, she can't flog anything."

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

For some people, shoplifting may appear to be a victimless crime. They might try to justify it by saying that the business they're stealing from makes so much money that the thing they've nicked wouldn't even affect their revenue stream one iota.

But police and prosecutors don't see it that way and usually take shoplifting to be a serious crime.

However, few judges and magistrates have gone as far as what one did in a small Australian town that didn't amount to jail time.

JeepersMedia/Creative Commons

Magistrate Roger Prowse handed down a sentence to Marie Wanless that she'll never forget.

She was caught pinching a pair of $20 sunglasses in Gunnedah, New South Wales, however she's been apprehended multiple times for shoplifting in the past, so this was the straw that broke the town's back.

The magistrate decided to ban her from every shop in Gunnedah to prevent her from stealing anything during her probation period.

Want to head to the servo for some ciggies? Forget about it.

Want to duck into Macca's for a cheeky Quarter Pounder or Big Mac? Yeah, nah.

Need to get some groceries so you can feed yourself for a week? Lol, sorry, but nope.

Gunnedah, New South Wales.
HeatherW/Creative Commons

During Wanless' latest criminal charge, she failed to turn up to court twice, even after the court had written to her to remind her not to forget to turn up. You can't make this stuff up.

Magistrate Prowse said: "If she doesn't go into retail premises, she can't flog anything.

"The good business people of Gunnedah might like that...as opposed to the coffers being ripped from them. Once this gets around Gunnedah...everybody will be on the watch out, all the shopkeepers will be on the watch out."

Now, if you thought that was a strange thieving story, wait till you hear this one from Brazil.

A teen who has 'I am a thief and an idiot' tattooed across his forehead has been arrested for shoplifting.

CEN

Ruan Rocha da Silva, 18, who was forcibly tattooed last year, was allegedly caught stealing five cans of deodorant from a supermarket and arrested by Military Police in the Maripora area of Sao Paulo.

It comes just one year after Silva made headlines when two men were arrested for tattooing him as punishment for allegedly attempting to steal a bike.

The teenager, who according to his family struggles with mental illness and drug abuse, has always denied the accusation and maintains that he just bumped into the bike while drunk and knocked it over.

Tattoo artist Maycon Wesley Carvalho, 27, and neighbour Ronildo Moreira de Aruajo, 29, heard about the alleged theft in their neighbourhood and decided to teach a lesson to Silva, who they believed to be the culprit.

Featured Image Credit: bestlawdir/Creative Commons

Topics: News, Australia