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A Timaru mother got a shock when police arrived at her door to tell her that her 5-year-old daughter had been stealing at the local supermarket.
But a far bigger shock was to come when she was handed a trespass notice that her daughter had been asked to sign without her knowledge.
The supermarket had not taken kindly to the child's theft of $1.50 of lollies and decided to treat the girl the same as they would a shoplifter of any age.
"Ever since Saturday, since this happened, she has been really upset about the whole thing," the child's mother, who asked not to be named, told the Weekend Herald.
"It's her first ever doing something like that. And her last. It's a learning curve. But every child has stolen, without knowing the consequences."
It was not until the family went public with their concerns that it became clear the trespass notice could not be enforced on someone so young.
The mother has come in for public criticism herself over the incident, but said she expected there would be some backlash.
But she said her daughter had initially been supervised when she went to the supermarket with an older friend and her 18-year-old brother. The children became separated from the brother and decided to try to slip out of the shop with the lollies.
Shortly after the girls turned up with police in tow, the girls were banned from Woolworths and Countdown stores for the next two years.
"I couldn't believe it. I was shocked because she was shoplifting, and even more shocked because we weren't called and we weren't present [when the trespass order was given]."
The supermarket company has since said it made an error of judgment in giving a trespass notice to children so young.
