Whittlesea crime: Dan Murphy’s, Northland Myer, Chadstone David Jones alleged thefts
From a man who slipped a sex toy under his shirt in Thomastown, to a thief who tried to steal 43 pairs of undies — here are some of the weirdest cases of ‘five finger discount’ in Melbourne’s north.
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It’s amazing what people will risk stealing – and the steps they’ll take to smuggle the products out of shops.
These thieves leave you wondering not just “why”, but “how did he fit that down his pants?” and “what on Earth did she plan to with all those?”.
Shoplifting happens frequently in Melbourne’s north, but some shoplifters continue to surprise.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the most bizarre shoplifting incidents to end up in court.
THE DILDO DASHER: ALEX REPAC
Alex Repac slipped a $79.99 dildo out of Sexyland Thomastown by smuggling it up his T-shirt and walking out of the store.
The 36-year-old admitted to the theft when he also pleaded guilty to driving through a motel’s gates and smashing his way out of a service station with a fire extinguisher.
ALLEGED SUPERMARKET SWINDLER: VISHAL SHARMA
Vishal Sharma allegedly tried to steal $1400 worth of underpants and vitamins from Woolworths South Morang in just two days, despite being banned from the supermarket chain.
He was allegedly caught trying to steal $703 of vitamins from the store the day after he allegedly tried to steal $673.25 worth of groceries – including 43 pairs of underpants.
The Lalor university student had also allegedly stolen $231.90 worth of bio oil and pregnancy items from Chemist Warehouse Mernda with a friend by stuffing the bottles in his jacket, among multiple other alleged thefts at Chemist Warehouse and supermarkets.
Sharma left a prosecutor asking if Heidelberg Magistrates' Court could keep banning him from every single premises in Melbourne, with the alleged thief being granted bail on the condition he not go within 200m of any Coles or Woolworths, or visit a Chemist Warehouse store.
THE DACK PACKER: MILTIADIS BARBAS
Serial shoplifter Miltiadis Barbas was busted with a suspicious bulge in his pants, which turned out to be a haul so impressive, it left a magistrate asking “I can’t understand how you managed to put so many items down your pants”.
The 54-year-old filled his strides with goodies including lamb cutlets, chocolates and a Cadbury Freddo cake when stealing from Woolworths Epping.
He paid for $53 worth of items at the self-serve checkout, while hiding $102.40 worth of unpaid goods down his pants and in his shopping bags.
He was handed an $800 fine and warned he would face jail if he was caught shoplifting again.
DAN MURPHY’S DARTER: MOHAMMED IBRIHIM
Dan Murphy’s lover Mohammed Ibrihim has repeatedly walked out of the liquor chain with up to five bottles of spirits stuffed in his clothing at a time.
Not even a court ban declaring it illegal for him to enter the franchises stopped him hitting the stores, and neither did staff confronting him.
Ibrihim, who stole the alcohol to sell it, walked out of one store with three bottles in his jacket, one up his shirt and one down his pants.
When staff caught him on one occasion, he jump kept walking — or tinkling — away.
He was sentenced to three months’ jail, with 16 days having already been served, followed by a 12-month community corrections order centred around treatment.
HEREDITARY HEISTER: NICOLE SCICLUNA
Nicole Scicluna was shopping with her mum when she stole $1478.40 worth of items from Myer Northland.
She was caught on CCTV concealing items in a trolley, including a Mimco bag, as the pair walked around the store, before they left without paying.
Scicluna then went back to the shopping centre with a friend and stole $697 of items from the Mimco store itself using the same tactic.
Scicluna pleaded guilty to two charges of theft when she went before the court.
Magistrate Michael McNamara said he was giving Scicluna her “one and only chance”.
He ordered her to pay $300 to the court fund and to be of good behaviour for 12 months.
ALLEGED LEGO LIFTER: SAMANTHA SILVY
Mill Park‘s Samantha Silvy was accused of stealing almost $800 worth of Lego from toy shops.
The 28-year-old was allegedly caught on CCTV taking $519.95 of Lego from Toyworld at Greensborough Plaza and $269.93 of Lego from Toyworld at Epping Plaza.
Silvy had allegedly walked into the stores with an empty cardboard box in a trolley, which she had filled with the Lego, before leaving.
She was also charged with stealing 18 perfumes from Bargain Depot on High St, Epping on October 31.
Magistrate Jennifer Tregent told the court stealing Lego theft wasn’t such a minor offence.
“It’s a large amount of Lego that’s been wheeled out of the shops,” she said.
“Some might say well it’s only stealing Lego. Well, the rest of us pay more for Lego because people steal Lego.”
Silvy was banned from going to Greensborough Plaza, and ordered she do fortnightly drug screens and abide by a 9pm-7am curfew as part of bail conditions.
SPECIAL FORMULA THIEF: PAOLO GUIDA
Paolo Guida left a magistrate surprised he didn’t have a baby after he smuggled almost $650 of baby formula out of Coles stores in four weeks.
The Kealba man was instead stealing the formula to sell to support his methamphetamine habit.
He walked out of Coles stores on seven occasions carrying unpaid for tins of baby formula, getting away with $647 worth in total.
Taking into account the 12 days he had already been in custody, he was sentenced to a community corrections order.
THE SPECIAL SMUGGLER: CAMERON DAWSON
Heidelberg West’s Cameron Dawson tried to smuggle five packs of lamb racks out of Coles by stuffing them down his pants and in his bags.
But when he went before court, the police kindly noted the grandfather had only chosen meat that was on special.
“So it wasn’t wagyu,” the magistrate laughed.
BRAZEN BANDIT: CHRISTOPHER SMYTH
Serial shoplifter Christopher Smyth stole more than $1000 of vitamins and more than $200 of alcohol one week.
But the 29-year-old didn’t even try to hide his crime when he stole from Coles Express Bundoora, openly telling the employee, “Sorry, I can’t pay, I don’t have any money”, when he strolled out the door with a coffee, chicken sandwich and packs of Up and Go drinks.
On the same day he stole $720 of Swisse multivitamins from Chemist Warehouse Bundoora by stuffing the bottles in his backpack, before using the same tactic to nick $364 of Swisse multivitamins from Chemist Warehouse Heidelberg West days later.
He also stole three bottles of spirits from Dan Murphy’s Preston by stuffing them in his pants and jumper sleeves.
He was sentenced to two months’ jail and a six-month corrections order for supervision and treatment.
ALLEGED CLOTHING CROOK: KIRA BUNKER
Kira Bunker allegedly stole almost $20,000 of designer clothing from Myer and David Jones before using a bogus pram to steal baby formula.
The 30-year-old allegedly hit David Jones stores at Chadstone, Malvern Central and Highpoint several times between in the space of three weeks, allegedly caught on CCTV getting away with $15,858 worth of clothing.
She then allegedly smuggled $3450 worth of Moschino clothing from Myer Bourke St in her bag, and used an empty pram covered with a blanket to repeatedly steal baby formula from Coles Ivanhoe.
Bunker allegedly told police she was stealing the formula to sell to buy heroin.
Magistrate Michael McNamara agreed to release her, putting her on strict bail conditions.
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