A struggling mum hit with money woes took her baby son on a shoplifting spree, which saw her steal almost £600 worth of goods in a matter of hours.
Erica Spink, known as Buchan, made off with food, toys, homeware items and electricals worth £579.52 during visits to Asda and B&M in Elgin.
The cash-strapped 43-year-old’s haul from Springfield Retail Park included everything from curtain poles and coffee pods to gaming headsets and motor oil.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard she also previously also stole food worth around £350 from Tesco in Keith and £320 of fuel from petrol stations, too.
The Oldmeldrum mum-of-one’s defence agent said her “flurry of offending was borne out of financial stressors” and that she’d been left “embarrassed”.
He said she’s now aware there are “better ways to deal with financial burdens”.
Buchan’s co-accused Vicki Gray or Watt, 37, failed to turn up to court and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Took baby son on shoplifting spree
The court heard how Buchan had her young son with her on the day she stole from the Elgin superstores in Edgar Road.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh said Buchan visited both the Asda and the B&M store on January 15 this year.
After spending about 90 minutes in the first store she made off with a selection of large goods including gaming headsets, children’s toys and motor oil.
Just before 1pm she got into the lift with her trolley, where she transferred the goods into bags, exited the lift, then walked from the store.
In nearby B&M filled her trolley with curtains, curtain poles, a lamp, an air fryer, Tassimo coffee pods, towels and various food before pushing it out into the car park without paying for any of it.
When confronted by a security guard there she said she had paid for the goods and drove off.
But her brazen behaviour had been caught on CCTV and police were soon called and her car was stopped shortly after.
“The items from B&M were on open display in the back seat,” the fiscal added. “The vehicle was searched and spontaneous remarks were made stating they took the items from B&M and Asda.
“They totalled £579.52.”
Police did not charge her at the time due to the young child being there.
She’d previously made off with food worth between £150 and £350 from Tesco in Keith on November 2021.
Buchan admitted three counts of theft by shoplifting and three further theft offences.
Repeatedly pinched petrol, too
The court was told she made off with petrol worth more than £200 from two visits to the Tesco filling station in Huntly on July 20 last year.
She first filled up a Vauxhall Astra and two large containers with 70 litres of petrol at 5.20pm then returned three hours later to fill the same car with £130 worth of unleaded before driving off.
Just 11 days later she was again caught on CCTV stealing petrol, this time at Tesco filling station in Inverurie.
Buchan’s defence agent, Lewis Faulds, said the shoplifting had been brought about due to financial woes.
“This flurry of offending was borne out of financial stressors,” he said. “The first was spur of the moment … there was a degree of planning to the second instance.
“She is embarrassed and remorseful. She knows there are better ways to deal with financial burdens than this course of conduct.
“She is embarrassed especially since her son was present with her at the time.”
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood handed Buchan, of Meadowside, Oldmeldrum, 180 hours of unpaid work and a two-year supervision order.
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