"They told me she was pregnant, that's where my sympathy came," she said.
While she was distracted Kerr, who had been very quiet, took McGlynn's iPhone 11, bank and gold AT HOP cards from her bag. "I never suspected a thing. She must have been stealing it from behind me," she recalled.
It was only when she opened her handbag that she realised her things were gone. She tried to run after them but could only look on as they boarded a bus towards Avondale.
Her first thought was to call the police but she no longer had a phone, so she borrowed a phone from a nearby shop, where she also called the bank and Auckland Transport to cancel her cards.
In that time, the couple had bought a $1 face mask and a $20.99 box of Kingfisher beer on the debit card.
The grandmother spent the next six weeks without a phone, hoping she could somehow get her iPhone back - in it were all her friends' and families' contact numbers and precious photographs of her grandchildren which had not been saved anywhere else.
She later heard her phone had been thrown in a rubbish bin and could not be found. "That was all my life's history, all gone!" she said.
Losing a good phone, having to buy a new one and learning how to use an Android - a different operating system - was very stressful, she said. "I feel hurt that they've taken advantage of my kind and caring nature."
McGlynn's victim impact statement was read out by the police prosecutor in court while Kerr stood and listened.
Kerr, 38, had pleaded guilty to the theft along with several unrelated drink-driving, disorderly behaviour, resisting police and other charges.
She was sentenced to six months' community detention with a night-time curfew, and 18 months' intensive supervision, having already served nearly five months in jail and another four on electronically monitored bail.
Kerr will also pay about $1,700 in instalments to McGlynn as reparation for the phone.
Judge Lisa Tremewan said Kerr's offences were not the most serious the court sees, but the pattern of ongoing offending was the concern.
"You've had many challenges in your life," she said, referring to Kerr's background of trauma. "They're not excuses but do provide context.
"You've experienced things in your life that you should never have had to experience, and as a result you've resorted to unhealthy ways to dealing with them, turning to drugs and alcohol."
Tremewan noted that Kerr was now making changes to her life.
"But you did take responsibility," she said, addressing Kerr's guilty plea. "You've put your hand up and done the right thing."
She commended McGlynn for taking the time to come to court. "It puts a human face on what's otherwise a piece of paper with the charge laid."
"She was having a nice conversation with a stranger, and the next minute she's taken advantage of," she said of the impact on the grandmother.
During the hearing, Kerr apologised to her victim through her lawyer Susan Giles. "I pass on her sincere apologies for taking advantage of you that day."
"She is working on the issues.. and trying very hard to better herself so that she doesn't do to anyone else what she did to you," the defence lawyer said, referring to the residential rehab and other programmes Kerr was in.
The two women, both masked under Covid-19 restrictions, turned to look at each other for a moment. McGlynn put her palms together and nodded at Kerr as the younger woman wiped at her eyes with a finger.
"It brought tears to my eyes and gave me hope for the future," Kerr said, "This is something I will hold close to me through my recovery journey."
Outside the courtroom, McGlynn said she was satisfied with the outcome. "That was very good, [the apology] was accepted."
