Woman jailed for stealing items to sell on Trade Me

A woman's plea for home detention was spurned by a judge in Timaru District Court when he jailed Leanne Janette Walter for 14 months.

Walter, 41, stole personal grooming sets, fitness sets and fragrance packs, worth nearly $25,000, from Farmers and The Warehouse and sold the items on Trade Me.

Yesterday she pleaded with Judge Brian Callaghan to give her home detention.

Her lawyer, Maria Green, submitted that Walter could be dealt with by home detention, and said that she had the care of her daughters, 16 and three; that the three-year-old had health issues; and that Walter had medical issues.

But the judge said that given Walter's history of dishonesty offending there was no way he could bring himself to the view that Walter's offending could be dealt with by anything other than imprisonment.

She had a systematic plan to steal and resell items, Judge Callaghan said. After stealing the items she would sell them on Trade Me, making nearly $12,000 from the transactions, the Timaru Herald reported.

- NZPA