Thief allegedly steals wallet from forgetful woman

Photo / File

August 19 was not a lucky day for a forgetful Greymouth woman, who not only lost the $100 that she left in the chute of a supermarket ATM machine but also the wallet that she placed on the counter while dashing back to the machine in search of the cash.

Angela Jane Emmerson, 40, of Blackball, had uplifted the wallet but Judge John Strettell found in the Greymouth District Court yesterday that there was insufficient evidence to convict her of theft.

The complainant said she had withdrawn $100 from the ATM in the foyer of New World supermarket and then walked around the store. At the tills, she realised that the $100 was not in her purse.

She rushed back to the ATM, dropping her purse on the Lotto counter as she did. At the ATM she found the withdrawal slip but no cash.

At the same time, Ms Emmerson entered the store. A surveillance camera showed her looking left and right, sliding a hand over the wallet and then walking off with it, while checkout operators searched the victim's bags of groceries in case the wallet had fallen into one of them.

Ms Emmerson was later approached by the manager and produced the wallet from her handbag, saying that she was intending to hand it in.

The manager, Victoria Boyes, said two people had been at the Lotto counter and many checkout operators were nearby had Ms Emmerson really intended to hand the wallet over, but she instead placed it in her handbag.

However, nothing had been taken from the wallet and Judge Strettell said it was possible that Ms Emmerson had intended to hand it over on her way out of the store, so he could not convict her.

- The Greymouth Star