A timely reminder to keep an eye on your belongings while braving the Christmas rush at the supermarket has been heard in the Wanganui District Court.
Taylor Puarewa Stark, 17, was convicted on two counts of theft and sentenced to 50 hours community work and ordered to pay $80 reparation by Judge John Clapham for stealing purses from elderly women at the supermarket.
On December 10 at 11:30am, Stark was at Countdown in Trafalgar Square at the same time as her first elderly victim was grocery shopping.
The woman had placed her handbag in the child seat of the shopping trolley.
Stark waited until the woman was busy selecting a grocery item in one of the aisles, and as soon as she was focusing on the item, Stark put her hand in to the woman's trolley and took her handbag.
Walking quickly away, she removed the purse from the handbag and hid it among grocery items on a shelf, before leaving the store with the purse, worth $30, which contained $20 cash.
Three days later, Stark returned to try again.
She selected another elderly victim and followed her at a discreet distance along the aisles as she browsed.
When the victim's attention was focused on examining an item, Stark put her hand into her handbag and took her purse.
CCTV footage captured Stark riffling through the purse in another aisle and removing cash.
As soon as she had finished, she stashed the purse on a shelf and left the supermarket.
Stopped in the carpark, she told police she owed people money for power and food.
She declined to speak to a lawyer in court and pleaded guilty to the charges.