27/01/2010 - Gem thief, 79, denies stealing coat
A 79-year-old woman who claims to have spent 50 years shoplifting jewellery from luxury stores around the world has been arrested for trying to steal a coat.
Doris Payne pleaded not guilty to the charge at Orange County's Superior Court, in southern California, after department store security guards said she had walked out with a $1,300 (£805) Burberry trench coat, said Police Lieutenant Mark Manley.
She was jailed without bail as she was on parole for a previous theft conviction at the time.
Police authorities have said Payne, who is the daughter of an illiterate coal miner, used at least 22 false names during her criminal career in Europe and the US. She said her first crime was stealing a $22,000 (£13,600) diamond from a Pittsburgh jewellers when she was 23.
Payne's notoriety grew so great that industry group the Jewellers Security Alliance sent warning bulletins about her in the 1970s.
"I've had regrets, and I've had a good time," she said.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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