Andrea Edwards was sentenced today for possession of stolen Trelise Cooper merchandise after the fashion designer's offices were burgled. Photo / Alex Burton
Andrea Edwards was sentenced today for possession of stolen Trelise Cooper merchandise after the fashion designer's offices were burgled. Photo / Alex Burton
A former florist who admitted to possessing nearly $137,000 worth of looted designer clothing has been sentenced to 300 hours of community service after a judge noted her recent hard times and her "spectacular" fall from grace.
Andrea Edwards, 46, who is also known as Andrea Paul, was arrested in November 2020 - several weeks after the brazen burglary of Dame Trelise Cooper's Newmarket design room in which roughly 2000 items worth about $750,000 went missing.
The heist left the internationally acclaimed designer without any of her 2021 spring and summer samples - a setback she described at the time as a "kick in the guts". Most of the clothing has never been recovered.
During Edwards' sentencing today, Auckland District Court Judge Kathryn Maxwell noted that Edwards had a "chaotic lifestyle" at the time and has continued to fall on hard times - a domestic violence victim who is now living in WINZ housing after a series of temporary accommodations including a women's refuge.
Andrea Edwards, who admitted to having stolen Trelise Cooper merchandise, leaves the Auckland District Court in April. Photo / Alex Burton
Judge Maxwell also noted the large amount of media attention the high-profile burglary and its aftermath have resulted in. Edwards, she noted, had no prior criminal offences.
"You have had a very public downfall, and in my view that is a very real punishment," Maxwell said, adding that another punishment has been Edwards watching her children suffer as a result of her own "public vilification".
Edwards was arrested alongside co-defendant Nicholas James Bush after police searched their shared hotel room and a storage facility in her name which they both had visited. Bush, a former television industry worker, was sentenced in February to two years and five months imprisonment for his part in the scheme.
Nicholas Bush was sentenced in February to more than two years in prison. Photo / NZME
"The extremely fast work by police in this particular case has possibly worked in your advantage," Judge Maxwell noted. "It became unclear what was your intent for these items."
During a hearing last month in which Edwards requested a discharge without conviction, defence lawyer Annabel Cresswell argued all her client had done was fail to act on suspicion about stolen goods. Maxwell declined the request.
A sentence of home detention wasn't available to Edwards today because of her living situation, the judge noted, adding that prison time also did not fit her unique circumstances. In addition to the community service, she ordered Edwards to pay $2500 for emotional harm, with payments of $20 per week.
Edwards wept as the judge mentioned her children and the domestic violence, which has resulted in a back injury that left her hospitalised for a time.
Judge Maxwell also urged Edwards to read a victim impact statement from Cooper that had been filed with the court prior to Bush's sentencing.
In it, Cooper said the burglary has caused "massive reputational damage" due to false rumours at the time of the theft and has had a financial impact on her business, which the judge declined to elaborate on in open court.
The victim impact statement also noted the invasion of the workplace has made her staff feel unsafe.
