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A West Norfolk woman who was prompted not to leave her shopping outside replied: “I’ve just nicked it from the garden centre.”
Little did Laura Mackenzie realise that the Good Samaritan was an off-duty police inspector.
The officer had spotted Mackenzie and her partner – known to be on bail conditions over retail premises – in Downham Garden Centre.
He then saw them get into a taxi and head to the man’s home nearby.
Prosecutor Collette Harper told magistrates in Lynn on Thursday: “Miss Mackenzie quickly closes the door.
“She was told ‘Don’t forget your shopping’ to which she replied ‘That’s not mine. I’ve just nicked it from the garden centre.’”
Checks with CCTV showed Mackenzie, 32, taking the items worth £110.93 off the shelves.
She pleaded guilty to theft in the incident on March 21.
The court heard that she had received a caution in February for a similar offence in December when £254 of goods were taken.
Solicitor Andrew Cogan said: “Had it not been for an off-duty inspector being in the garden centre at the same time, I dare say it would have been got away with.”
He added that Mackenzie, who was on a methadone script, had stolen the goods to sell and fund her drug habit.
The defendant, of Elderflower Way, Downham, was given a six-month conditional discharge and told to pay £50 costs plus a £22 victim surcharge.
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