Heroin user 'stole from Derbyshire Boots store'

Stacey Barnes admitted stealing the items from a branch of Boots on Causeway Lane, Matlock on December 21, when she appeared before Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, February 25.

But lawyers said they had been unable to establish how the company had reached the sum of £600 for the three No7 gift boxes.

Barnes, 29, of Dale Road, Matlock Bath, also admitted possessing heroin after she was stopped by police on the street where she lives on January 14.

Describing the shop theft, Becky Allsop said: “There was an off-duty police officer in the store and he watched her take the items. He followed her some way and then returned to the store and reported the theft to staff.”

She added that the prosecution had listed the items’ value as “unknown” because it could not be established that they were worth £600

Mitigating, Kirsty Sergent said: “It’s troubling that Boots are stating that these items were worth approximately £200 each, when the highest priced items we could find for these box sets was £75, and no till receipts have been provided by the company.”

She added that Barnes was a known heroin user and police had stopped her as she was riding her bike down the street.

Magistrates gave Barnes a 10-week prison sentence but suspended it for 12 months, and ordered her to pay £200 in compensation to Boots.