St Vincent de Paul seeks woman who helped herself to furniture

A woman has been caught on camera taking household furniture from a charity donation drop-off for the needy in Hamilton.

CCTV footage posted on the St Vincent de Paul's Facebook page shows the woman diving into a skip of rubbish with legs in the air.

She can be seen single-handily putting two loads of goods including a double bed, chairs and other household items into the back of a jeep at St Vincent's depot in Frankton on Sunday afternoon.

Waikato general manager of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Mike Rolton, said the video showed the woman arriving at the scene in a green Jeep Cherokee prepared with bolt cutters.

"She did a lot of 'shopping'."

Mr Rolton said the woman spent several hours at the collection point.

"I was disgusted that she came prepared with bolt cutters and just disappointed because if she'd asked we'd probably have given it to her anyway."

St Vincent's gives away thousands of dollars of furniture and clothing to the poor each year.

The woman was one of three people who helped themselves to items that day.
One man took a jacket and another a suitcase.

Mr Rolton said since posting the video online it had received 4000 hits and he'd already had a call from a viewer who said the woman was seen unloading the bed in another street in Hamilton.

Mr Rolton planned to report the crime to police today.