A woman who told the court that the allegations of shoplifting "could not be true" pleaded not guilty to the charge of simple larceny when she appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.
According to reports, 40-year-old Carice Phipps from Mountain View, Kingston 3, entered the Brooklyn Supermarket in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew and placed items in a blue strap bag and was caught leaving the store without paying.
Phipps is accused of shoplifting a baby powder, pistachio nuts, two Lasco Lasoy milk powder, Butterball sausage, Virgin olive oil, Vaseline, Tastee cheese and French dressing which are all valued at $7,668.54 plus tax.
After the allegations were read, Phipps told the court, "that could not be true. I was just coming from MegaMart, and went there to catch the Western Union at the place. The bag from my shoulder had stuff from MegaMart."
The accused was asked by Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey to produce her receipt for her MegaMart purchases, to which she stated she could not find. She said she made attempts to retrieve one from the store the same night of the incident.
Phipps also added, "during my rush to catch the Western Union before it close ... the bag tear and that's why I had to put the stuff in my bag, when the security stopped me. I bought over $15,000 worth of groceries from them (Brooklyn Supermarket). We even went back the same night to MegaMart (for the receipt), but they were closing."
Despite her explanations, RM Pusey was not convinced. "I don't believe a word of it ... you running to Brooklyn to go Western Union three minutes before it close, you wouldn't have time to go Brooklyn to buy $15,000 worth of goods," she said.
Phipps is to return to court for mention on July 10.
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