A mother-and-daughter shoplifting duo were caught with more than $56,000 worth of stolen luxury goods after being captured on CCTV pilfering designer dresses from a David Jones store in the CBD.
The items, which included blazers, dresses and blouses from exclusive designer brands Zimmermann, Miu Miu, Michael Kors and Carla Zampatti, were stashed under the bed and inside wardrobes at their suburban home.
The mother and daughter were captured stealing clothing from the David Jones store in Bourke Street.Credit: Paul Rovere
The duo’s caper was exposed when staff at the David Jones store in Bourke Street noticed there were several items missing from the store and reviewed the CCTV footage.
The footage shows the mother and daughter wandering into the store on three occasions last September, taking clothing into the changing rooms and walking out without paying.
The security system also recorded the mother walking into the store twice and taking several items without paying one afternoon in October.
Police swooped on the pair’s suburban home in November and uncovered dozens of luxury items in wardrobes, a cloakroom and under the daughter’s bed.
The mother later told police she could not remember stealing the items and claimed she had owned some of them for years, even though the tags were still on.
Her daughter told police she was aware her mother had stolen from the Zimmermann store in David Jones in September, but that she hadn’t “personally stolen anything” and kept tags on her clothes as a habit.
The pair were charged with stealing, handling stolen goods and dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
They appeared in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where the mother’s lawyer successfully applied to have details of the pair’s identity and personal history suppressed.
The women stole clothing from the Carla Zampatti label.Credit: James Alcock
The lawyer told the court the thefts coincided with a stressful period in the mother’s life, who was experiencing family and mental health issues.
She said expensive clothing was the woman’s “choice of joy” and something the woman and her terminally ill mother bonded over.
“The shoplifts occurred a week after her return from seeing her terminally ill mother,” the lawyer said. “She is puzzled by her own behaviour.”
Magistrate Justin Foster ordered that all the items be forfeited to authorities except two jumpers from a French luxury brand and a leather jacket that one of the woman’s sons had grown attached to.
“Most people could not deal with what you have had to deal with. And the fact that you continue on is to your credit,” Foster said.
Foster placed the woman on a six-month good behaviour bond on the condition that she receives mental health treatment. Her daughter was given a diversion.
The mother, who apologised for her behaviour through a court-appointed translator, sobbed loudly as Foster handed down the sentence.
“It’s important that you take this opportunity to draw a line under what you have done in the past and to move forward in a law-abiding fashion,” Foster said.
“Notwithstanding the offending that is the subject of these charges, I can see underneath all that, that you are a very good person and that you need to be there for your children.”
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