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New twist in real identity of "elderly" shoplifter

<p>New details have emerged after an "elderly" woman was photographed after allegedly being targeted by police for <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/old-woman-targeted-and-accused-of-shoplifting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shoplifting</a>. </p> <p>The original photo, which was shared to X, showed an older woman standing outside a Coles supermarket, while two officers sifted through her groceries to check she wasn't stealing. </p> <p>The post garnered widespread outrage, with many people leaping to the woman's defence and calling for people to "boycott Woolies and Coles".</p> <p>Now, it turns out that the shopper wasn't an old woman at all, but a 32-year-old woman dressing to appear older. </p> <p>According to reports from <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/new-twist-after-photo-of-elderly-coles-shopper-being-stopped-by-police-sparks-furious-reaction-c-14356492" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>7News</em></a>, the woman was impersonating an elderly shopper during the trip to Coles and was discovered with a significant amount of groceries.</p> <p>Victoria Police confirmed they were called to the supermarket, and issued the woman with a caution for shoplifting. </p> <p>“Police responded to reports of shoplifting at a centre in Richmond about 3.30pm on 17 April,” police said.</p> <p>“Officers arrived to discover a woman had been detained on the ground by a loss prevention officer employed by the store. Police separated the parties and spoke with a 32-year-old woman from Glenroy who was cautioned for shoplifting.”</p> <p>In the initial post to social media, the bystander took aim at Coles and Victoria Police for targeting the shopper, who they believed was elderly, describing her apprehension as “forcible”.</p> <p>“I told the police that I’ll pay for her food and let her go and then I got threatened with being arrested for ‘obstructing police’,”the X user said</p> <p>In further posts, the bystander made even more serious allegations about the incident.</p> <p>“When I intervened to help the lady I then got threatened by the police of being arrested for ‘obstructing a police matter’,” they posted.</p> <p><em>Image credits: X (Twitter)</em></p>

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Old woman targeted and accused of shoplifting

<p>The photo of an elderly woman has sparked widespread outrage, as the older woman was targeted by police officers who accused her of shoplifting. </p> <p>A bystander snapped a photo of an old lady standing outside a Coles supermarket, as she was set upon by two police officer who began sifting through her shopping to check if she had stolen anything. </p> <p>Posting the photo to X, the bystander explained how the situation unfolded. </p> <p>"I just saw this poor old lady get arrested by police for shoplifting food," the post read. </p> <p>"I told them that I'll pay for her food and let her go and then I got threatened with being arrested for obstructing police. Boycott Coles and Woolworths."</p> <p>The pictures show the woman talking with police in the Melbourne CBD as a number of items from her shopping are placed on the ground.</p> <p>Commenters online quickly jumped to fury over the situation, defending the woman and calling for empathy for older people who are struggling financially.</p> <p>"This is so messed up. If people are forced to steal food, we need a better alternative," one said.</p> <p>"The elderly do not have enough to live on, pension rises are not covering food and  utility price rises and the government couldn't care less," another said.</p> <p>"In my neck of the woods, I see some elderly folk snacking on grapes in supermarkets. They are left alone to do so by staff," a third added.</p> <p>"Seems like some training in empathy and kindness is needed," added a fourth. </p> <p><em>Image credits: X (Twitter)</em></p>

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Coles shopper humiliated after being accused of shoplifting

<p dir="ltr">A Coles shopper has been left feeling humiliated after they were forced to lift up their shirt to prove they weren’t shoplifting. </p> <p dir="ltr">Tony Jones, 39, was about to pay for his groceries at self-checkout on Saturday morning when he was confronted by the employee of the Brisbane Coles who made the accusation.</p> <p dir="ltr">“And what about what’s under your shirt?” Mr Jones said the staff member loudly asked him, causing the other customers to look around.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Jones has a stoma as a result of having his entire bowel removed from bowel cancer a few years ago, and later developed an “extremely obvious” hernia at the site which “sticks out about 15 centimetres from my stomach”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My initial reaction was flat-out shock, because she didn’t say it in a way of asking me, she flat-out accused me,” he told <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/customer-with-obvious-hernia-humiliated-at-selfservice-checkout/news-story/56980cdcada75ba9ae0cca9cb90c75f0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She seemed quite proud. Everybody in the self-checkout bay heard what she accused me of, and she walked over to me. I was just stunned, I guess I kind of shut down — I’ve never been accused of being a thief before — so I just lifted my shirt.”</p> <p dir="ltr">After revealing his condition, Jones was left feeling “violated” as the supermarket worker simply said, “Yeah, sorry, we’ve had a few of those lately,” apparently referring to shoplifting incidents.</p> <p dir="ltr">Coles has since apologised to Mr Jones, but that hasn’t made up for the trauma he endured in the supermarket. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve lived here for 12 or 13 years, I’ve been at that Coles plenty,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Obviously I don’t expect retail staff to recognise everybody … I assume they’ve had some thefts lately, I’m not sure whether they’ve been given instructions to pull up more people because they don’t have a [security] gate yet.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Jones took to Reddit to share the story of his encounter, asking those on the social media site, “Is Coles allowed to ask what’s under my shirt? When it’s just my hernia.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The post quickly went viral, attracting hundreds of comments.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Former loss prevention officer here — they cannot detain you in any way unless they have witnessed you select the goods and witnessed you not take advantage of a reasonable opportunity to pay,” one person wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">Another woman said, “I have a permanent ileostomy and have had retail workers accuse me of stealing too. It’s annoying because most of the time I wear clothes where the top of it pokes out the top and it’s happened when I’ve worn clothes that completely covered it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">A third person commented, “Gentle reminder Coles turned a record profit in the midst of the Covid recession, then decided to install hard arse security detectors to catch thieves.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Jones said the whole experience left him feeling rattled and upset, especially as he continues to undergo treatment for his condition and prepare for another surgery. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m not dealing with it great, if I’m truthful,” he said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m seeing doctors weekly at the moment. Things add up, and getting called out on Saturday, it basically shut me down for the entire day, [left me] for lack of a better word feeling like s**t. I had all eyes on me. I’m not a social person so I just wanted to get out of there to be honest. I don’t think I’ll ever be going back to Coles.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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SA board member quits after allegedly caught shoplifting

<p>A prominent figure in South Australia has been captured on CCTV appearing to steal a handbag and a jumper.</p> <p>Leah York, the Australian Education Union state branch secretary, can be seen picking up a $280 handbag and walking out with it in CCTV footage released.</p> <p>Three minutes before she snatched up the bag, she can be seen adding a jumper to the bag, which is still visible on CCTV under the handbag as she left the shop.</p> <p>York’s team said she meant to pay for the bag, and she did so after footage was released on the store’s social media.</p> <p>The store uploaded the footage alongside the caption, ”After receiving more information about your theft, we took a closer look at the footage and discovered you failed to mention before you left the store the first time, that you had already stolen an orange knit,"</p> <p>"This footage speaks volumes. You have impacted our staff greatly."</p> <p>York, who reportedly earns more than $200,000 a year, told 9News she had taken leave for health reasons and resigned from her position on the board of Funds South Australia.</p> <p>The board is responsible for the state's $30 billion superannuation fund for public sector workers.</p> <p>Police have not charged York with any crime but are investigating the alleged incident.</p> <p>Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said reporting alleged theft was up to the "individual businesses”.</p> <p>"We would certainly encourage people to report to police and provide those videos to police so we can investigate and hold people accountable," Stevens said.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Facebook</em></p>

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"Steal the Suite" hotel evokes your inner shoplifter

<p dir="ltr">A hotel chain has invited guests to come with an empty bag and “steal” luxurious items from them.</p> <p dir="ltr">For a limited time only, The Prince Hotel in Melbourne has invited members of the club for a “one-of-a-kind stay”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“At The Prince, you could never overstay your welcome. In fact, we want you to put your feet up, open your bags and home on in,” the invite read.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Delicious debauchery, utter self-indulgence. We’re inviting you to a one-of-a-kind stay at The Prince, where you leave with more than you came.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The Prince is collaborating with luxury brands to deck the rooms with “cool and coveted items” such as towels, toiletries, and goodies from the mini bar.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We’re inviting you to stuff your suitcase with Grown Alchemist skin and body care, Marloe Marloe handmade ceramics, Cultiver Linen bedware, extra soft Hommey cushions and slides,” they continue.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Plus, leave deliciously nourished and boozed up with a mini-bar packed full of goodies from the European grocer, Little Prince Wine and Mitchelton Wines.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Guests are asked to bring an empty bag for the $999 a night room, which will have goods worth up to $2,000 and more. </p> <p dir="ltr">Hotel manager Ben Chan explained the reasoning behind Steal the Suite was thanks to watching guests occasionally stealing items from them</p> <p dir="ltr">“We have seen some guests go to extraordinary lengths to smuggle items out of their hotel room, so we decided to expose this guilty pleasure,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Steal the Suite lets guests steal items that are truly worth it.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>What each Steal the Suite room includes: </strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Grown Alchemist - Toiletries, valued at over $200</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Hommey - Cushions and towels valued at over $350</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Marloe Marloe - Ceramic vases, valued at over $300</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Cultiver Linen - Robes, tote and linen sheet set, valued at over $1,000</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Mitchelton Wines - 12 bottles of wine valued at over $150</span></p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Little Prince Wine - Cheese and charcuterie selection – priceless</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: The Prince Hotel</em></p>

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Sneaky secret Bunnings uses to foil shoplifters

<p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">Although Bunnings sell security cameras to customers, their own security measures used to be far more hands-on, according to one former staff member.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">In a recent TikTok video captioned "Bunnings secrets revealed by a former employee", a man who goes by the handle @relayscreations said when he worked at one of their stores in Queensland, they had a trick for warding off shoplifters.</p><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@relayscreations/video/7056403180845944065" data-video-id="7056403180845944065"><section><a title="@relayscreations" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@relayscreations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@relayscreations</a> <a title="stitch" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/stitch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#stitch</a> with @princessannafit Bunnings Secrets revealed by a former employee <a title="bunnings" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bunnings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bunnings</a> <a title="australia" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#australia</a> <a title="security" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#security</a> <a title="companysecrets" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/companysecrets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#companysecrets</a> <a title="aussie" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/aussie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#aussie</a> <a title="♬ original sound" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7056403182695631617" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ original sound</a></section></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">"So I used to work at Bunnings. That is a chain of hardware stores if you're not Australian," he said. "When you're in Bunnings, you'll sometimes hear an announcement over the loudspeaker say something along the lines of 'security to section C, security to section C,' and the secret was that there was no section C."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">"There was also, most of the time, no security. It was only meant to be a deterrent for shoplifters," he claimed. "So originally when we started doing it, we did it manually.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">"Someone in the store would actually pick up the intercom and speak it but then they pre-recorded it and added it to the soundtrack of music that would play over the store speakers all day so we actually had the same announcements every day during the same songs and you predict them after you heard them for a while."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">In a separate video, he said he stopped working at Bunnings in 2006, "so some of this information might be out of date."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">This revelation was fascinating to Aussies on TikTok, though some noted they shopped at Bunnings all the time and had never heard those loudspeaker announcements.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">Others claimed "all stores" including Woolies and Big W used this same trick.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">"I work at Big W and we manually say it," one TikTok user commented. "Sometimes it's every couple hours or when there's people acting sketchy. It worked often."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">A person claiming to have worked at Coles said, "We did this manually at Coles when we knew a five-finger discounter was in. We also got workers to follow them but make it look like we are working."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">One person said they worked at Bunnings and "used to say it over the PA system back in 2003."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline;color: #323338;font-family: Roboto, Arial;background-color: #ffffff">"Yep, did it at my old job 12 years ago. Nice to see it's still freaking people out," commented another person.</p>

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Olympic champ back in court on stealing and unlicensed driving charges

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lawyer representing a champion Olympic diver on charges of shoplifting and unlicensed driving has called for the media to be banned from court proceedings.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Robert Burns, Chantelle Lee Newbery’s lawyer, has accused the media of “opportunistic conduct”, claiming there would be little interest in the case if any other member of the community was involved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Were she not a person of some note who had achieved something for this country she would be of absolutely no interest to the press whatsoever,” Mr Burns told magistrate Zac Sarra.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“But for the fact that she’s been a gold medallist at the Olympics the press wouldn’t give a brass razoo.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 44-year-old is accused of stealing groceries from a supermarket in Ormiston, Queensland, in April last year, as well as from a store in Victoria Point in January and a Woollongabba supermarket last month.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Newbery has also been charged with three counts of breaching bail conditions by allegedly failing to report to Cleveland Police Station in June and July.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When asked why Ms Newbery was not present in court, Mr Burns said “there was an issue with a potential application for closed court due to press involvement”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Every time this matter is before the court the press take an active interest in a matter which … if it were any other member of the community there would be little interest and it’s really opportunistic conduct by the press,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Burns added that Ms Newbery had made mistakes and would take responsibility for her actions, but “shouldn’t necessarily be subjected to any additional punishment through what the press are doing”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Sarra said court proceedings would only be closed under extenuating circumstances, and that an application could be brought before the court that the press could respond to.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I wish the press were here more often, Mr Burns, to be honest, to report the problems we have to deal with [like] the impact ice is having in the community, the increasing levels of domestic violence, many of the issues that are tearing this community fabric to shreds,” Mr Sarra said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The magistrate also cancelled a warrant for Newbury’s arrest that had been issued by Brisbane magistrate Elizabeth Hall last month, which had not been executed.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Newbury’s matters have been adjourned to Wynnum Magistrates Court, to be heard on October 1.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Newbery won gold and bronze at the Athen Olympics in 2004 and became Australia’s first diving gold medallist in 80 years.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty</span></em></p>

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Former swimmer Geoff Huegill’s wife charged with shoplifting

<p>Former Olympic swimmer Geoff Huegill’s wife, Sara, has been arrested for allegedly stealing from a Bryon Bay boutique.</p> <p>Sara has been accused of stealing $2500 leather pants from the high-end boutique Island Luxe, reported <em><a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/geoff-huegills-wife-sara-caught-stealing-a-pair-of-2500-pants-at-a-byron-bay-boutique/news-story/217f757b83d1e9ea785c0f12659f55df" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The Daily Telegraph</strong></span></a>.</em></p> <p>The alleged theft occurred on Sunday afternoon, when the mother-of-two and former publicist allegedly put a pair of leather trousers in a large handbag and walked out of the store.</p> <p>NSW Police confirmed to news.com.au that a 34-year-old woman had been arrested on Fletcher Street in Byron Bay, over an alleged theft on Sunday.</p> <p>She was taken to Byron Bay Police Station and issued with a Field Court Attendance Notice for shoplifting, a police spokeswoman revealed.</p> <p>The property was recovered and returned to the boutique.</p> <p>She will face Byron Bay local court on June 7.</p> <p> In 2014, Geoff and Sara were charged with drug possession after they were found snorting cocaine at Randwick races.</p> <p>Police who were patrolling the venue were called to a suite in the grandstand by a security guard.</p> <p>The couple were caught with a small quantity of white powder and were later both placed on a six-month good behaviour bond. </p>

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Self-serve checkouts set for a shake-up to stop shoplifting

<p>Supermarket self-serve checkouts are set for a shake-up that will see new scanning technology introduced that will streamline the shopping experience and prevent theft.</p> <p>No longer will customers have to use the search menu trying to find the right item – the new technology will automatically do it and record the correct price.</p> <p>The new "smart checkouts" will also be able to discern the difference between products so customers can't cheat the system.</p> <p>Developed by Aussie start-up company Tiliter Technology, the new technology is so smart it will be able to tell the difference between a Royal Gala and Golden Delicious apple.</p> <p>Rather than relying on barcodes, a camera will store product information to identify items at the scanner.</p> <p>“It's a massive breakthrough. It will cut your time down at the checkout dramatically,” Tiliter Technology’s Martin Karafilis told 7 News.</p> <p>Colleague Chris Sampson added: “This machine can distinguish between a Red Delicious and a Pink Lady apple. Between a truss tomato and a gourmet".</p> <p>“You can't pretend an avocado is an onion.”</p> <p>It’s a boon for supermarkets who lose billions of dollars a year in theft. Retail theft is estimated at up to $9 billion a year in Australia, with a large proportion due to customers cheating the self-serve checkouts according to Australian Retailers.</p> <p>Russell Zimmerman, from the Australian Retailers, said the product recognition technology was “urgent” to help retailers minimise their losses.</p> <p>“It adds around three percent to our products. So retailers want to minimise that theft so they don't have to charge the honest consumer the extra money," Zimmerman said.</p> <p>The technology is being tested in several grocers and looks to be implemented towards the end of this year.</p>

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“I caught my child shoplifting”

<p>Anne Marr, 68, grapples with the dire topic of children shoplifting, and not just any children, her child. Her advice on what to do when you catch your child shoplifting, “use tough love”.</p> <p>Now I never thought I would even be confronted with this, but it happened. Peer pressure is a strong thing.</p> <p>I always had a policy of making sure the children’s bedroom doors were kept open at all times, so the day I walked passed my sons room to find his door shut should have made alarm bells ring, but they didn’t.</p> <p>He had a friend over that day and the friend asked if they could walk to our local Plaza. We live in a country town and the Plaza was very close. He needed to buy some things for school. They were both 10 and went to the same school. They had just returned from school when they came home and shut themselves in the bedroom</p> <p>I knocked and opened the door just in time to see things being pushed under the bed. I simply asked if they wanted anything and I reminded my son that the door stays open. I then left for the kitchen and called out for him to come down to the kitchen for a minute.</p> <p>I didn’t even have to ask. Straight away he came to me and said, “I’m sorry Mum, I know it’s wrong, but my friend talked me into it and it was so easy.”</p> <p>Back to the bedroom we went and I asked the boys to get the stuff out from under the bed. Made them sort it into piles of who took what. Bagged it up into separate bags. Then I told the friend we were going home to tell his Mum. I also told my son that he had to fix things by acknowledging what he had done was wrong and to turn a wrong into a right. He wasn’t happy, but said “Ok”.</p> <p>It wasn’t a very successful trip to the other boy’s home, as his Mum was rather horrified at what I was going to do. She said, “Oh well I couldn’t afford to buy him that stuff anyway and I’m certainly not taking him to the police station.” I replied saying, “Well, I thought you should know what’s happened and I’ll leave it to you to decide how to handle it.” And with that I left.</p> <p>My son and I went to the police station and he confessed that he had shoplifted these things and put the bag on the counter. The young officer looked rather startled and went to get a more senior officer who said, “Right young man come into this room with me, your Mother too.” He pretended to write things down and took my son out to the cells and showed him someone locked up, older of course, for also stealing. He asked my son what he was going to do.</p> <p>My son told him, “Mum and I are taking the items back to the store to apologise to the manager… then I will tell him how we did it and I will pay for it all.” The total cost came to $92 which amazed me. “A good plan,” said the Police Officer.</p> <p>The manager was very good at how he handled it. He said that my son was not allowed in the store for 1 year unless an adult was with him, but thanked him for owning up. He also thanked me for doing this, as he had two young children and could be facing this himself in a few years.</p> <p>I hung the checkout slip on the fridge and told my son that the pocket money he earnt for doing his jobs would be deducted each week off the amount. He earnt $10 a week, so I gave him $2 and deducted $8 each week. My husband thought that this was tough, but I thought tough love was needed. It took nearly the whole year to pay it all.</p> <p>I then gave him the bag of toys and said “It’s yours now.” He said, “I don’t want it, could I give it to the kindy children instead.” So we ended up giving it to the Kindy.</p> <p>The older police officer, who I knew well and has been at our Station for over 30 years said it was the first time ever that a parent had done this in his station, and he so wished more parents would do what I had done.</p> <p>I didn’t forbid my son from seeing his friend, but two weeks after this incident, my boy came home from school and said “Mum I’m not going to be friends with him anymore… he hasn’t learnt his lesson and wants me to go and shop-lift at the toy store now.” “Oh that’s sad” I said.</p> <p>Some years later that same boy was arrested and sent to a detention centre. I’m happy to say that my son stayed on the straight and narrow path from then on.</p> <p>Tough love works and the Police are only too happy to help parents and grandparents.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/health/caring/2015/12/grandmother-retires-after-52-years-walking-kids-to-school/">Grandmother retires after 52 years walking kids to school</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/health/caring/2015/12/9-year-old-raises-money-for-sick-kids/">9-year-old raises $100,000 for sick kids</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/health/caring/2015/12/twins-meet-at-birth/">Wonderful moment newborn twins meet for the first time</a></strong></em></span></p>

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