Sheree Fay Duncan faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for shoplifting spree through Grand Central stores

A 38-year-old Toowoomba mum pushed a shopping trolley through eight different Grand Central stores during a shoplifting spree that netted a total $1100 in goods. See what the court did with her.

A 38-year-old Toowoomba mother who went on a shoplifting spree through eight stores in Grand Central has been ordered to do community service.

Sheree Fay Duncan pushed a shopping trolley through various stores selling clothing, toiletries, children’s wear and other items on November 30, 2022, Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told.

She filled the trolley with a total of $1114.61 of goods and walked out of each store without paying, police prosecutor Kingsley Weir told the court.

However, Duncan was seen by witnesses and captured on the centre’s CCTV cameras, and she was eventually stopped by staff as she was leaving the shopping centre, abandoning the trolley with all goods recovered, she said.

Sheree Fay Duncan leaves the watch house after being sentenced in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on February 1, 2023.

Duncan pleaded guilty to eight counts of stealing arising from that shoplifting foray as well as to walking out of a Woolworths supermarket in October 2022 with a trolley carrying $295 worth of groceries.

However, Duncan had again abandoned that trolley when challenged by staff as she got into a car in the car park, Senior Constable Weir said.

No restitution was sought as all goods had been recovered.

Duncan had failed to appear in court to answer the matters on January 17 but was found by police outside Toowoomba watch house on Tuesday, January 31, and taken into custody for the night.

Duncan’s solicitor Kirsty Smith said her client had the care of five of her children aged under 13 and at the time she had lost her community housing and Centrelink benefits.

The offending was in the lead-up to Christmas and none of the goods were luxury items but household necessities and clothing, she said.

Her client had spent a night in custody in the watch house, Ms Smith submitted.

Magistrate Louise Shephard accepted Duncan was under financial stress at the time and ordered she complete 60 hours of unpaid community service.

Originally published as Sheree Fay Duncan faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for shoplifting spree through Grand Central stores