'Exploited' mum who ran up drug debt caught stealing £4,000 of perfume from Boots stores

Jade MacBeth, 26, stole six times while under the coercive control of her ex-partner and another man, a court was told.

They repeatedly drove her to the retailer’s two outlets in Catterick Garrison, North Yorks, and set her to work, magistrates in South Tyneside heard.

She struck six times between October and December 2020, making off with mainly high value Max Factor, Maybelline, Rimmel and L’Oreal products.

At the time, the mother-of-two was subject to a community order for a theft in Sunderland for which she was banned from every TK Maxx shop in the land.

MacBeth swiped £1,841 of stock from Boots’ Princes Gate Shopping Centre outlet for the first offence of her spree on Thursday, October 1.

She returned to the same branch four more times – taking goods valued at £263 on Saturday, October 10, £381 on Friday, October 16, £1,231 on Monday, November 23, and £215 on Wednesday, December 16.

And she also stole items valued at £100 from the retailer’s Market Place premises in the same town, also on October 10.

Prosecutor Paul Anderson said: “These are large value shop thefts, primarily of cosmetics, fragrances and make up.

“We’re talking about large amounts of products stolen. It comes to some £4,000.”

MacBeth, of Brickgarth, Easington Lane, had initially denied the allegations but changed her plea to guilty to six shop thefts as her trial loomed.

Syed Ahmed, defending, said jobless MacBeth had suffered a tortuous upbringing which included being taken into care and the death of her mum.

He added: “Unfortunately, her mum was into drugs which had a huge impact on the defendant’s life. She started taking cocaine and crack cocaine.

“She entered into a coercive relationship and was the victim of a number of assaults.

“She made significant improvements to her life but accumulated a £2,500 drug debt and to pay she was being exploited.”

MacBeth was sentenced to an 18-month community order, with 25 rehabilitation days, six months of drug rehabilitation and 100 hours of unpaid work.

She was ordered to pay compensation of £4,033 to Boots.