26/10/2009 - Gang steals clothes worth £15,000
A gang of shoplifters who targeted fashion stores in the West End have been sentenced at crown court after stealing clothing worth £15,000.
The group, known as "the Spice Girls", stuffed the clothes into bin bags before going back into the stores - branches of Gap, Next and Oasis - to take more.
Southwark Crown Court heard that one of them had so many clothes to carry, she struggled to walk.
The six women were arrested on October 2 last year after police saw them sorting through the garments in a road off Oxford Street. All of them pleaded guilty to either conspiracy to steal or handling stolen goods
Prosecutor Sally Fudge said: "This is a gang of organised shop lifters. For the bulk of shop lifting that characterises this case, the gang was organised into those who carried out the stealing and others who assisted in the removal of the items from the area, allowing them to carry out more thefts."
The bags of stolen goods contained 31 pairs of trousers, four tops, three pairs of shoes and two pairs of sandals, with a value of more than £700.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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