A WOMAN who got away with stealing a large trolley full of groceries tried doing it again two weeks later, only to be caught, then punished, for both incidents.
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Natasha Smart, 32, of Kooringal, appeared in Wagga Local Court on Friday after she was convicted in her absence to two counts of larceny.
Court documents state that the first offence happened on the afternoon of March 23 this year at Kooringal Woolworths.
Smart filled her trolley with various groceries worth about $200 before going into the BWS section of the store.
After purchasing some alcohol, she exited the front entry of BWS and then the main front entrance without paying for the groceries.
Staff did not pick up the incident at the time.
About two weeks later, she returned to do it again.
However, when staff asked her to show a receipt for her groceries when she tried to exit BWS, she failed to produce it.
"I didn't steal anything, I'm not a thief," she said
People go to jail for this type of matter.
- Magistrate Christopher Halburd
Staff then sent the CCTV footage to police who went to her house three days later.
Smart, who is unemployed, said "I can't remember that one" when asked about the first incident.
In court on Friday, Smart was given a 12-month community corrections order with supervision.
She was also ordered to pay Woolworths $400 as compensation.
Defence solicitor Dominic Holles argued for leniency because Smart had recently lost her job at a Wagga hotel, that she recently experienced substance abuse and that she had a limited criminal history.
"Ordinarily I'd be making the submission of need over greed, but that is a difficult submission given the fact that she purchased alcohol," Mr Holles said.
"Up until August last year [she] had no matters on her record."
Magistrate Christopher Halburd warned Smart that larceny can carry a jail sentence.
"People go to jail for this type of matter," he said.
"It's in both your interest and the community interest that there be some supervision."
On Friday, Smart was also convicted and disqualified for 10 months for driving while disqualified after she pleaded guilty to the charge.
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