Thief who claims she stole thousands of pounds of make-up to to care for sick daughter released from prison

Mariana Sincu and her husband stole £2,230 worth of cosmetics from Superdrug in Shrewsbury before being caught putting items she had tried to steal back on the shelf in a Telford branch later that day.

The 37-year-old was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison at Kidderminster Magistrates Court on October 10 but had it suspended for 12 months yesterday(25) following an appeal at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

The court heard this is the second time Sincu, of Perrott Street, Birmingham, has committed theft and successfully appealed for a lighter sentence in as many years.

She and her husband planned a trip from Birmingham to Shrewsbury to steal the items on October 9, which included 13 L’Oreal eye liners worth £116 and 84 Maybelline products worth £839.16, the court heard. They were later seen acting suspiciously in the Telford branch. Stuart Clarkson, prosecuting barrister, said: “The assistant manager at Superdrug on Pride Hill in Shrewsbury attended work to be told there had been a shop lifting earlier on.

“The shop reviewed its CCTV and saw two people enter the shop at about 11.10am that morning. The defendant had a large satchel and a male took a basket.

“They went to the back of the store by the cosmetics.

“An audit of stock was done soon after and it was found that £2,230 worth of cosmetics had been taken.”

Deliberate

He added: “Later on that day they were seen in a Superdrug store in Telford.

“Police officers were notified of their presence. The defendant was then seen to take things from her bag and put them back on the shelf.”

The court heard Sincu was interviewed and said she was “short of money” and needed to get back to Romania to care for her ill daughter.Her husband was given a four-week suspended sentence at the same magistrates hearing on October 10. Defence solicitor Adrian Roberts said: “It’s her first time in custody and she has spent her time in solitary confinement as no one else speaks Romanian.

“She lost her job in Birmingham shortly before this offence when the factory, where she was an agency worker, closed down.She visits her 22-year-old son who looks after her two daughters in Romania every four-to-five months and brings them money.”

Judge Anthony Lowe, who sat alongside two magistrates, said: “At the moment we are at a loss to understand why her husband was only given four weeks suspended.”

Speaking to Sincu, he added: “The view of this court is that it was a deliberate shopping trip far away from where you live to Shrewsbury and Telford by two people who say they have no money, which brings the question, how did you get from Birmingham to this area?

“We have suspended this sentence but you must understand if you commit any further offences in the next 12 months you will have to serve this suspended sentence along with any other that may be imposed.”