Tuesday 28 January 2014

Great-grandmother, 76, shoplifted because she was 'bored of being old'

The mother-of-seven later claimed she only carried out the thefts to relieve her boredom as she was fed up of living on her own Photo: Alamy By News agencies

8:47AM GMT 28 Jan 2014

A great-grandmother suffering from arthritis embarked on a four year shoplifting spree because she was ''bored'' of being old.

June Humphreys, 76, used her bus pass to travel to town centres before hiding consumer commodities in her shopping trolley then sneaking out of stores without paying.

The OAP from Crewe, Cheshire was being treated for breast cancer and osteoarthritis but would strike at high streets across two counties.

Store detectives would catch her red handed, however she went back out shoplifting again.

The mother-of-seven later claimed she only carried out the thefts to relieve her boredom as she was fed up of living on her own.

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A probation officer said the old lady had as many shoplifting convictions as a teenage heroin addict.

Details of the offending OAP emerged at North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court where Humphreys was warned she will go to jail if she shoplifts again.

Probation officer Darren Vernon told the hearing: "She has travelled around Staffordshire and Cheshire on public transport and committed offences.

"She knows what she is doing is wrong, she says she is bored and needs to fill her time.

"The main reason for her doing this is boredom. She lives alone. She has seven children but the only one she has contact with lives above her.

"She has acquired the record of a heroin addict in his late teens."

Earlier the court heard Humphreys' offending took her to high streets in Stoke, Leek, Macclesfield, Stafford and Whitchurch and had convictions for shop theft in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and on January 14 this year.

In the latest bout of thefts, she pleaded guilty to stealing confectionery worth £2 from Iceland, theft of baby clothes worth £69 from BHS, stealing baby clothes worth £24.98 from B & M, and theft of a breast pump from Boots, all on January 6.

The pensioner also admitted stealing alcohol, coffee and confectionery worth £30.42 from an Aldi store and stealing two pairs of boots worth £94.50 from a shoe shop in Hanley, Staffs , a week before Christmas.

She was sentenced to one-month in prison suspended for 12 months, ordered to pay £45 costs and an £80 victim surcharge. Magistrates revoked a community order which had previously been imposed on her for theft.

Her lawyer Andrew Bennett said: "My client does not want to go to prison. She wants to stop doing this. She wants to stop stealing from shops."

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