Dunedin woman who stole three collection boxes sentenced

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A Dunedin woman who ripped off three charities on the same day has been sentenced to home detention.

Monique Teiria Barclay appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after admitting eight offences, all of which were committed while she was serving a sentence of supervision for previous dishonesty.

The trouble for the mother of three began on August 18, when she rammed her partner's car after an argument.

The 29-year-old was granted bail but it was only a couple of weeks before the spree of offending continued.

On September 7, Barclay made three visits to New World over five hours, walking away with $548 of stolen groceries.

Next month she stooped lower still.

Barclay first visited the St Vincent de Paul charity shop on October 5 and while the attendant was distracted by another customer the defendant rounded the counter and stole a cellphone.

It was then on to Jumbo Dairy, a couple of kilometres away in North Rd.

There the woman took a Heart Foundation collection box, slipped it inside her bag and left.

The donation box contained about $35, the court heard.

Next, Barclay headed south to Mosgiel.

At the Monte Carlo Milk Bar, she grabbed an SPCA donation box, containing about $100, and fled.

Defence counsel John Westgate said he had quizzed his client about the motivation behind the repeated thefts.

"She really doesn't have an explanation," he said.

"She was struggling because her children had left and she basically lost the plot."

Barclay, the court heard, was expecting her fourth child in about four months' time.

Judge John Macdonald sentenced her to four months' home detention and banned her from driving for six months.

He expected it would be "a challenge" for Barclay to comply with strict rules about remaining housebound but the only realistic alternative, he said, was imprisonment.

The defendant was ordered to pay the $1813 reparation she owed at $10 a week.