'Botox bandit' face-off over theft

Genna Hollows says her before photo from the clinic shouldn't have been released. Photo / Supplied

A woman the "Botox bandit" has spoken for the first time about being publicly humiliated after doing a runner from a cosmetic clinic.

Genna Anne Hollows, 29, of Redwood Valley, near Nelson, was sentenced to 60 hours' community work for leaving the Caci Clinic in Merivale, Christchurch, without paying $780 for 40 units of Botox facial treatment.

Hollows went to the clinic on July 28 and had five photos taken. She left without settling the bill.

Several people contacted police with her name last month after her photo was published in media under the heading "Botox bandit".

Hollows told the Herald on Sunday she was angry at the clinic for releasing her photograph.

"The clinic should not have released my photograph after I signed the Privacy Act confidentiality consent form.

"I have received advice that I have grounds for a complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner because they are not supposed to do that," she said.

She was surprised at the level of publicity "for something so minor and for a first-time offender".

She said she regretted her actions and had paid the money back.

"I have taken responsibility for my actions and am being accountable for the fact that what I did was wrong. I do regret everything that happened," she said.

However, she said the justice system treated her unfairly. "I did apply for name suppression to protect my son but the judge said 'no, because the public had a right to know'."

She said she gave a false name and address to the clinic because she did not want anyone to know she was having the treatment.

"I gave the correct phone number and I never ran out of the clinic. I was parked nearby and had left my wallet in the car. I went to get cash out and saw an ex.

"We have bad history and I thought he was going to stop and talk to me so I bolted. I didn't want to deal with him," she said.

Hollows declined to say whether she would be having Botox again.

"I am too young to have Botox all the time but I had it once before.

"I did think I needed it because I have a strong frown line but it didn't change the way I look," she said.

The Caci Clinic owner, who declined to give her name, said the police released the photo to the public.