Truro Crown Court
Shocked thief Claudette Olney-Bell blurts **** outburst to court after being handed this sentence
She clearly wasn't expecting the 26-week sentence handed to her by Judge Robert Linford
A mother of two was left so shocked after being given a prison sentence for shoplifting offences that she let slip 'f**king hell' in front of a judge and an assembled courtroom.
Claudette Olney-Bell, 44, from Hayle , appeared at Truro Crown Court via video link from prison to be punished after pleading guilty to two counts of theft.
Prosecutor Ed Bailey told Judge Robert Linford that on July 25 Olney-Bell a entered Co-op store and stole meat worth £15. Then on November 9 she entered Tesco and stole £189 worth of razors and toys by putting the items into a foil-lined bag.
Mr Bailey described how committing the two latest offences also put Olney-Bell in breach of a suspended prison sentence handed to her last year for two counts of thefts from a person.
In these instances Olney-Bell entered Morrisons in Bridport along with her boyfriend Daniel Fielding and struck up a conversation with a woman who was shopping. While being distracted, she had her handbag stolen containing a phone, keys and a purse with bank cards, which records showed were used in an attempt to withdraw money from a cash machine.
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Then at a Morrisons in Weymouth, in almost identical circumstances, £25 in cash and a mobile phone were stolen from another distracted woman, all of which were found in the car Olney-Bell was later travelling in.
Defending Olney-Bell, Robin Smith said she admitted the offences right away and had in the past few years struggled with an addiction to heroin.
He said: "She had made great strides with her addiction but suffered a relapse in July. She got herself a council flat which ironically resulted in her having her benefit stopped and then fell into old habits.
"She had two children, aged 10 and 19, and there is nobody more ashamed than Claudette Olney-Bell."
Sentencing Olney-Bell, Judge Robert Linford said: "I have no doubt the judge at Bournemouth Crown Court (where she was given the suspended sentence) would have told you that if you reoffended then as night follows day, you would serve the suspended sentence.
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"Having breached the order by stealing from a shop in July you did it again by employing a comparatively sophisticated method of dealing.
"You took the decision to run your life in this way and you will face the consequences of that decision."
Olney-Bell was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison and on hearing the verdict, let out a surprised remark of 'f**king hell' before the video link was quickly cut.
The Co-operative