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A judge has taken a French couple to task for their “relentless campaign of shoplifting” in Wānaka.
Police say Tamara Dore, 23, and Etienne Capdet, 24, stole more than $2400 in groceries from the New World Wānaka and New World Three Parks stores, and more than $400 in hardware items from Mitre 10 Mega Wānaka, over a five-week period between May and July.
The couple used the same “modus operandi” at the supermarkets every time: conceal items in a satchel while keeping a few items in their hands, then go to the self-service checkout and only pay for the items in their hands.
When stealing from Mitre 10 Mega, they removed items from their wrappers or tags and either hid them in the satchel, in their pockets or down their pants.
When they were finally busted, Capdet was charged with 28 counts of theft, and Dore with 15.
Sentencing the couple in Queenstown’s court this week, Judge Mark Williams said the offending was aggravated by the fact the pair had come from overseas and “embarked on this crime wave” within a short time of their arrival.
Families throughout the country were having to make “tough choices on a daily basis” about the food they could afford to buy, the judge said.
“Shoplifting is not a victimless crime — we all pay for it through higher prices and increased security costs.”
Defence counsel DeAnne Nicoloso said the couple had seen how easy shoplifting was and after they had repeatedly got away with it, it had “spiralled out of control”.
They had initially shown a sense of entitlement about their predicament and were indignant about having to stay in New Zealand to face the charges.
However, since their previous court appearance in July, they had had a “complete turnaround” and now understood the seriousness of their offending, Ms Nicoloso said.
Since their arrest, Dore’s mental health had deteriorated, and they had been exposed and “shamed” on social media.
However, the biggest impact of their offending was on their immigration status.
“They may be deported, but in any event, with these multiple convictions on their records, their dream of entering other Commonwealth countries has been crushed and destroyed.”
They had both completed 20 hours’ volunteer work, had paid all the reparation owing to the three stores and were prepared to do community work as part of their sentence.
Judge Williams said the offending was “deliberate, targeted and borne out of greed”, and his sentence required a punitive element.
“I’ve got to deter others from coming to Queenstown and Wānaka and deciding to steal from local retailers.
“There’s too much of it, and it simply has to stop.”
He entered the convictions and sentenced the couple to 100 hours’ community work each.
