Recidivist shoplifter Silvia Tipene back thieving after release from jail for stealing

Hamilton mum Silvia Tipene stole from Woolworths three times during her latest bout of offending, even refusing to hand back stolen meat when asked by staff. Photo / NZME

A recidivist shoplifter who previously claimed she’d been “framed” for offences she hadn’t committed has returned to her old ways of walking out of retail outlets without paying for anything.

This time, Silvia Koasha Tipene admitted her ill-gotten deeds but justified it by telling police that she did it to supplement her benefit, “as she didn’t feel that it was enough”.

Tipene, 39, told police she’d even kept some of the stolen property for personal use and on-sold other products to supplement her weekly benefit.

NZME wrote about Tipene in August 2023 after she was nabbed for stealing more than $10,000 worth of goods and arguing that she had been “framed”.

“I am being framed and arrested for crimes another person committed,” the Hamilton mum told police at the time.

She was jailed for 11 months for thefts at numerous stores, including Sportsworld, Briscoes, Rebel Sport, Bed Bath and Beyond, Farmers and New World Te Rapa.

She was back in the Hamilton District Court on Wednesday for sentence on six more shoplifting charges, along with one of burglary and two of wilful trespass between March 23 and May 10.

This time, she targeted Mitre 10 Mega Te Rapa, Woolworths Claudelands, The Warehouse Te Rapa, Noel Leeming Hamilton Central, and Briscoes The Base.

Her modus operandi has remained unchanged; she simply puts items in her backpack or trolley and walks out without any attempt to pay.

On one occasion at Woolworths, staff asked her to give back the meat she had in her bag, but she simply refused and left.

Tipene stole an array of items, including two firepits, laundry powder, two airfryers, a Breville coffee machine - worth $1150, upholstery cleaner, and meat.

In some instances, she operated alone; in others, she’d have one or two accomplices.

‘Offend, jail, release, reoffend’

Judge Arthur Tompkins noted Tipene had 55 previous convictions for shoplifting alone.

Her defence counsel pushed for an end term of community detention with supervision, given the positive aspects of her time while on bail.

While the judge accepted there was “some merit” to counsel’s submissions, it wasn’t an option given how quickly she had reoffended since being jailed in July last year.

“The sheer volume of the offending here together with Ms Tipene’s previous history and the speed at which she has reoffended after being sentenced to imprisonment on July 2 last year for essentially identical offending means that whilst rehabilitation and reintegration may be enhanced by community detention, the community is entitled to protection from Ms Tipene’s shoplifting, which home detention will allow.”

He also remitted all of Tipene’s outstanding fines so that she could instead start paying off previous reparation orders.

Tipene was sentenced to six months’ home detention and ordered to pay her share of reparation totalling $683.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.