Shoplifter tried to backtrack after arrest

A shoplifter who tried to pay police officers £10 after being arrested has been sentenced.

On 30 November, Viorica Pacuraru, 45, entered Matalan in Maskew Avenue, Peterborough, and selected items of clothing worth a total of £58.80 and concealed them under her clothes before walking out of the shop, making no attempt to pay.

She was caught on CCTV and police officers, who were in the store returning stolen goods from another theft, were alerted to the incident.

The officers followed Pacuraru out of the store and arrested her on suspicion of theft. Upon arrest, she removed some of the items that she had concealed in her clothing, before trying to hand over £10 to the officers for the items.

During a search in custody, more clothes were found to be concealed on her and she admitted she knew the money she had was not enough so decided to steal the clothing.

Pacuraru, of Thistlemoor Road, New England, appeared at Peterborough Trial Court on Friday (15 December), where she was sentenced to a six-month conditional discharge after admitting  theft from a shop.

PC Sonny Pepper, who investigated, said: “Pacuraru made the decision to commit the offence as she knew she didn’t have enough money to pay for the items, trying to rectify it only after being caught.

“Shoplifting is an issue we are working hard to tackle in Peterborough, and we are reliant on shops to continue reporting each incident to us so we can work at identifying prolific offenders.”

Operation Interstellar has been implemented across the north of Cambridgeshire and see dedicated patrols to tackle shoplifting by identifying and dealing with the most prolific offenders across the district.

Since the operation began in October, 79 people have been arrested for shoplifting offences across Peterborough, with 52 people charged so far – 27 of those have been sentenced, with 13 people put in prison for a combined total of three-and-a-half years, and compensation and fines amounting to more than £5,600.