Aussie woman’s reason for taking earrings from Bali store

A Melbourne woman being held at a Bali police station over the suspected theft of a pair of earrings says she can explain the “misunderstanding”.

Bali police say that a Melbourne woman accused of stealing a pair of $550 earrings from an up-market Seminyak store insists she forgot to pay for the jewellery and had no intention of stealing.

But police say this is different from the facts they have gathered during their investigation.

The 21-year-old St Kilda woman, Catherine Anne Hogg, is being held at Kuta police station as a suspect on a stealing charge.

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Australian Catherine Anne Hogg insists she forgot to pay for a pair of earrings she is accused of stealing from a store in Bali. Picture: Supplied

Police allege that she stole a pair of earrings from the Farah Khan store in Seminyak Village on Sunday after asking to see them from a showcase.

She is being held in a police cell and today her lawyer spent hours inside the police station.

Kuta police investigator, Budi Artama, said Hogg had told police after her arrest, near the store, that she forgot to pay for the earrings.

The pair of earrings worth AU$550 Hogg is accused of stealing. Picture: Supplied

It is alleged that Hogg asked staff to see a pair of Swarovski crystal earrings and then when staff were distracted serving other customers, disappeared out the door without paying for them.

Her lawyer says she went out of the store to take a phone call, forgetting she had the earrings and the whole thing is a misunderstanding.

Mr Artama said the investigation pointed to an intention to steal the earrings.

“In this case she was seen deliberately taking the chance to leave when the store staff were busy with other customers,” he said.

The up-market Farah Khan shop where Hogg was arrested by police. Picture: Lukman S.Bintoro

“She insists that she has no intention to steal it. She said she only forgot to pay for it.”

He said Hogg had told police this was her first time to Bali.

Kuta police chief, Ricki Fadilianshah, said Hogg is facing one charge of theft under the criminal code, carrying a five-year maximum jail term.

Hogg is detained in a police detention cell in the general crime section of Kuta police station. The cell is about three metres by one-and-a-half metres and she is alone.

Originally published as Aussie woman’s reason for taking earrings from Bali store