A SHOPLIFTER who stole duvets and £300 of booze from two city stores was jailed for seven months after the court heard of her long list of past convictions for burglary, robbery and theft.
Katie McGowan (29), who had been handed lengthy prison terms for those offences stretching back to 1998, appeared at Peterborough Crown Court to face three new charges – two counts of theft and one of possessing class A drugs.
On June 10 this year
, McGowan, of Kilham, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, and her husband went to the QD store at the Orton Centre, where she went in while he parked.
When staff weren’t looking, she took two double duvets, worth £40, and left without making an attempt to pay.
She was followed by staff and seen to get into the car, where she told her husband to drive.
He reversed it into a man and he was dealt with for common assault at an earlier hearing.
When her address was searched after she was arrested, a small amount of heroin – 0.1g – was found in brown paper, wrapped in silver foil.
On June 22, Mcgowan was seen on CCTV walking around a city Tesco store pushing a trolley and loading it up with more than 12 bottles of alcohol and crisps, worth £304, and walking off without paying.
She was apprehended by security staff and pleaded guilty the following day.
Azza Brown, prosecuting, said: “Her previous convictions are rather lengthy and stretch back some time. Shoplifting features prominently, as do burglaries and robbery.”
Vivenne Tanchel, defending, said Mcgowan had had a long-standing drug habit since she was 18, but had come out of her prison terms clean.
She said: “She also had financial difficulties in her marriage. She returned to using heroin but went back to drug services seeking help.
“She disputes these theft offences have anything to do with drugs. They are to do with financial difficulties. Her husband works, but it is not sufficient to cover the bills.
“She has expressed remorse and feels she has let her little boy of four down.”
Recorder Simon Blackford said: “These offences are in themselves minor, but are aggravated by your long list of previous convictions for offences of dishonesty.
“Because of this, I regard the offences as so serious that they can’t be dealt with by way of a fine or community penalty.
“I take into account your guilty pleas and the fact you have made substantial efforts to address your drug addiction and are undergoing voluntary testing.”
McGowan was jailed for a total of 30 weeks – 10 weeks for the duvet theft, 16 weeks for stealing the alcohol and four weeks for heroin possession.
The full article contains 454 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
