Chantelle Katherine Baker: Persistent pincher finally punished

An apathetic crook has copped her sentence for robbing multiple Illawarra bottle shops as well as nicking off with her neighbour‘s shoes. Read about her long list of crimes.

A Unanderra woman with a tendency to loot bottle shops and nick neighbour’s shoes has copped her punishment in Wollongong Local Court.

Chantelle Katherine Baker fronted court on Tuesday having previously pleaded guilty to five counts of shoplifting, three counts of larceny, dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and possessing a prohibited drug.

The string of stealing offences stacked up over the first seven months of the year with the first two playing out in January.

Baker strolled into Liquorland Wollongong on the morning of Tuesday, January 18 and carried a four-pack of Woodstocks into the cool room before burying them in her bag.

The following week, on Australia Day, Baker did exactly the same thing instead this time she tried to get away with a 10-pack before she was busted by mall security and police were contacted.

In early February, one of Baker’s neighbours began to notice their shoes that they left on the front porch kept disappearing.

It didn’t take long to realise who the culprit was with the couple watching TV in their front room at 11.30pm on Monday, February 7, when they heard some noise outside.

They caught Baker red-handed, but she pleaded that she was “looking for her cat” despite the mischievous behaviour being caught on private CCTV.

Chantelle Kathrine Baker leaving Wollongong Courthouse on Tuesday, ICO papers in tow. Picture: Dylan Arvela

In mid February, an unfortunate victim lost his wallet in the Charlies Liquor Barn car park in Unanderra with CCTV recording the moment Baker stumbled across it.

Instead of handing it in to authorities, Baker went on a $244 spending spree, first buying bread, Heinz aioli and strawberries from the nearby Woolworths, then buying a six-pack of Woodstocks from BWS and a packet of cigarettes from King of the Pack.

Baker then took the victim’s debit card to Kmart Figtree where she helped herself to some shampoo and conditioner and deodorant.

Curiously, Baker also went through the checkout with a pair of Everlast trackies, however, she opted to pinch those rather than pay for them via the victim’s money.

On the first day of March, Baker pulled out her old party trick, rocking up to Liquorland in Dapto and taking a four-pack of Woodstocks into the cool room and placing them in her bag.

The incident was captured on CCTV and when police attended her address she frankly admitted to stealing the beverages, telling police “I picked it up and put it in my bag”.

There was a lull in Baker’s bottlo raiding with her next offence occurring on the afternoon of Sunday, July 24 when she and an unknown woman entered the BWS in Fairy Meadow.

The woman spoke with the manager as Baker loaded her green shopping bag with three bottles, including Jack Daniels and Bundaberg Whiskey, before walking out with the more than $200 worth of booze.

Many of Chantelle Katherine Baker’s crimes occurred at Wollongong Central.

A few days later Baker seized on an opportunity to swipe a set of $499 Sennheiser headphones which had just been purchased in JB Hi-Fi in Wollongong Central.

The victim went to the Subway in the same precinct, placed the bag with the headphones down to pay for her order and neglected to pick up the bag.

Baker pounced and scurried off with the headphones, but the victim was able to alert Subway staff with CCTV provided to police.

That afternoon, police attended her Unanderra abode where she admitted to taking the headphones and giving them to her sister.

She also admitted to stealing the three bottles of alcohol from BWS which she said she sold on for $30.

In court on Tuesday, Magistrate Robert Walker believed her repeated offending did warrant a term of imprisonment, however, he opted for that to come in the way of a 18-month intensive corrections order.

The magistrate also slapped Baker with a $200 fine for the drug possession offence which related to 1.5 grams of meth found in her bra which she “didn‘t realise was ice” and that was ”for her friend”.