Light-fingered senoritas nicked over lingerie theft

A trio of light-fingered Spanish senoritas, who stole thousands of dollars of lingerie from a Dunedin department store, have been told to pack their bags by immigration officials.

The women, all nurses, who appeared before Judge Paul Kellar in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, admitted stealing $1533 of underwear from Farmers Trading Company.

Police prosecutor Tim Hambleton said Nuria Rutllan Ferrer (24), Neus Gomez-Ponce (26), and Marta Sole Torres (21) went to the lingerie section of the George St store about 11am on Saturday, when they began to hide items on themselves.

Ferrer and Gomez-Ponce attempted to leave the store without paying, but were stopped by security.

The pair later admitted to police they were trying to steal the items, and they had also taken lingerie from the store the previous day.

While Torres left undetected, she was later spoken to by police and admitted to stealing lingerie from the store.

She took police to their vehicle, where more lingerie was uncovered.

The total value of stolen items was $2353, with reparation sought for damaged items of lingerie which had tags removed.

Duty lawyer Jim Large said the trio were sorry, and had no excuses.

They were "not proud" to appear in court and could pay a fine and reparation immediately.

The trio were convicted, fined $450, and ordered to pay $500 reparation.

Immigration New Zealand fraud and compliance manager Peter Elms said foreign nationals convicted of criminal offending in New Zealand could be liable for deportation.

"Immigration New Zealand has today served the three Spanish nationals with deportation liability notices."

The women had 28 days to appeal or leave the country of their own volition, otherwise they would be deported, he said.