Woman who faked pub robbery caught stealing wine from Oswestry shop
A woman who had escaped immediate custody for faking a robbery at the pub where she worked was caught stealing from a shop in the same town, a court heard.
Sophie Gibbons was still subject to a suspended prison sentence when she committed the shoplifting offence in Oswestry in April this year.
The 23 year old appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court for sentence having admitted a charge of theft.
Recorder Ben Nicholls said he had no idea why Gibbons had stolen the two bottles of wine and breached the suspended sentence order.
He said it was especially disappointing as Gibbons had done well on a drug rehabilitation programme and had completed the 120 hours work imposed for the robbery incident.
For the theft of two bottles of wine worth £13.99 from the One Stop Shop in Cabin Lane Gibbons was fined £35 with £65 costs.
Recorder Nicholls said that Gibbons must also now be involved in a thinking skills programme as part of her continued supervision.
The court heard that Gibbons was arrested on April 22 after police were alerted when she refused to return to the shop.
Later she told police she had been "very drunk" and had intended paying for the wine, but only had £7 in cash.
After leaving the shop without paying she went to a friend's house, but did not drink the wine.
Gibbons, of Sandringham Avenue, Oswestry, remains subject to the 16-month suspended prison term imposed in December last year for offences of conspiracy to steal and intending to pervert the course of justice.
In July, 2014, Gibbons had been assistant manager at The Highwayman pub and had faked a robbery on her last day at work.
She had swapped her shift so she would be trusted to take more than £5,000 to the bank, but she called police claiming she had been robbed.
Later she told police it was a set up and it emerged the person who took the money was her drug dealer.
In February of this year, Gibbons was caught taking drugs into the premises where she was attending a residential community programme.
The court heard she was no longer welcome there and was asked to leave over the drugs issue.
Gibbons had been a heroin addict and some of her circle of friends were also at the same premises.
The community programme was replaced with a drug treatment and rehabilitation order for a year which remains in place.
