Curfew for Thieving Penrith Shop Worker

Shona Fairhurst posing for a Facebook selfie.

A trusted WHSmith sales assistant stole more than £1,600 from her employers after repeatedly dipping into the till.

Shona Fairhurst of Friars Terrace, Penrith pleaded guilty to a single count of theft when she appeared at Carlisle Magistrates' Court on Monday, 13th August 2018.

She was caught when bosses noticed a rapid escalation in cash losses at WHSmith's Penrith store. A company loss prevention officer installed a covert camera overlooking the tills, which caught the 38-year-old in the act of stealing.

Glenn Anderton, prosecuting, told the court that the covert video footage showed Fairhurst, who was identified by her manager, entering a PIN code to access the till and pocket cash.

"Over an extensive period of time she (Fairhurst) had been using a void, no sales transaction to gain access to the till and remove cash without any authority", explained Mr Anderton.

Over the six months of the thefts, Fairhurst stole £1,638. Once her crime was exposed, losses from the store stopped completely.

WHSmith Penrith (from North West Images).

During interview Fairhurst told police that she didn't think she had stolen so much.

"She said she did not need [the money] and that at the time of the offence, she was unwell with stress and anxiety... at the time the store had a temporary manager", Mr Anderton told the court.

"She was extremely sorry and apologetic and she felt sick and ashamed of her behaviour", he added.

Sean Harkin, defending, told the court that Fairhurst had suffered stress and anxiety.

"There is no pattern of offending," he said. "There was a previous offence but it was some time ago."

Fairhurst, who has been dismissed by WHSmith, had previously accepted a caution for stealing from her employers back in 2003.

Chair of the bench Marcia Fotheringham noted that Magistrates had been concerned by Fairhurst's breach of trust and reluctance to engage with the Probation Service.

Magistrates imposed a six month 7pm - 7am electronically monitored curfew. Fairhurst was also ordered to pay WHSmith compensation in the amount of £1,638, £85 prosecution costs and £85 victim surcharge.

Update 1: Fairhurst returned to Carlisle Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 15th August 2018 and asked District Judge Gerald Chalk to vary the conditions of her curfew order so that she could attend a pre-booked family holiday.

The Judge pointed out that Fairhurst should have mentioned her holiday when she was sentenced, to which she replied that her solicitor "forgot to mention it".

Judge Chalk agreed to suspend the curfew order over the period of Fairhurst's holiday, but indicated that the order would be extended to make up the missing days.

Update 2: For some inexplicable reason the News & Star appears to have deleted the second article about the terms of Fairhurst's curfew being varied. You can read a cached version of the article here.