Mum charged after mix-up over cash withdrawal at Woolworths
A MUM has been dragged to court by Woolworths, and is now facing criminal charges. She blames the self-service check-outs.
BELINDA Howell usually avoided supermarket self-service check-outs in the belief they cost people jobs – but she now fears a cashout bungle could ruin her own career.
The nurse and mother of four is mortified at facing criminal charges over the March 22 incident at Mount Gambier’s Woolworths outlet, when she tried to withdraw $1100 in cash in the self-service section.
The 42-year-old said the cash was to pay for renovations and wages for carers of her teenage son Jesse, who has cerebral palsy and requires full-time care.
Ms Howell said the machine dispensed some but not all of the money, so a nearby staff member immediately resolved to get her the remainder of the cash, then returned 10 minutes later with a wad of notes.
Ms Howell said she did not count the cash because she assumed the staff member had given her the correct amount, and she was distressed because in the interim she had received a text message that her nanny and children had been in a minor car accident – just weeks after the death of her partner’s mother in a road crash.
But almost two months later, police arrived at her front door, demanding she attend the Mt Gambier station the next day, refusing to elaborate beyond their inquiry “relating to an incident at Woolworths”.
“I didn’t sleep at all that night, all sorts of thoughts were going through my head. Maybe I backed into another car in the carpark or had one of the kids stolen a lolly, I had no idea,” Ms Howell said.
Instead, she was shown CCTV footage of the incident, accused of pocketing “about $1000” too much and charged with dishonestly deceiving another to benefit herself.
Ms Howell said she was devastated at being accused of dishonesty, and vowed to fight the charges despite a forecast $12,000 legal bill. “I’ve always prided myself on being honest and I’d never put my job or reputation at risk,” she said. “I understand the lawyer’s advice, that it would be faster and more cost-effective to plead guilty, ask for no conviction and get it over with – but my conscience won’t let me do that.”
Ms Howell said speaking to The Advertiser was a last resort to tell her side of the story, which she said felt like a bad dream. “I am exhausted, I put my trust in Woolworths to do the right thing and I feel they’ve let me down,” she said.
Despite doubting she was given an extra $1000, Ms Howell said the entire saga and cost of the criminal investigation could have been avoided with some “country commonsense”.
“I was (at Woolworths) later that night and the next day, they know me as a regular so I don’t know why they didn’t just say ‘our till was down and we think you might have it’,” she said. “I would’ve happily repaid it and I still would – but I haven’t been given a chance.”
A Woolworths spokeswoman said managers referred the matter to police after an internal investigation. The case returns to Mt Gambier Magistrates Court this month for a pre-trial conference.