Woman jailed after stealing from stores at Barons Quay

Lorraine Matthews and Laura Ashworth, both of Ridgewood Avenue in Manchester, were stopped by police on Friday, April 1. The pair had been in a black Renault Megane on Manchester Road at the time.  

Earlier that day, the women, who have previous offences for shoplifting, had helped themselves to items worth £611.74 from H&M and left the Barons Quay store without paying.

Fifty-seven-year-old Matthews was already wanted by police at the time, after making three previous visits to the shopping centre in January and February where she stole items worth at least £1,793 from River Island.

Matthews stole more than £1,700 from River Island in Barons Quay

Both women were appearing at Chester Magistrates Court on Friday, May 20, to be sentenced, having already pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing.

As well as four counts of theft, Matthews was also driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and had no insurance, when officers from the Northwich Beat Management Team apprehended her and Ashworth as they made attempts to escape with the loot.

Having already been told the starting point for her crimes would be a custodial sentence, Matthews was given a total of eight months behind bars.

In reasoning their sentence, magistrates told her she had a flagrant disregard for people and their property and that the number and nature of the offences showed her to be operating as a professional criminal.

Lorraine Matthews was jailed for eight months

She was also disqualified from driving for 16 months with an extension period of four months due to her immediate custodial sentence.

Rushworth, 26, was told she will have to wear a tag for a period of two months and have to abide by a night-time curfew at her home address between 7pm-5am.

She will also have to complete 35 days of rehabilitation with the probation service.

Police Constable Chris Box said: "Matthews and Rushworth are prolific shoplifters who came to Northwich with the sole intent of stealing thousands of pounds worth of clothing.

"The pair believed that they could evade detection by travelling to an area where they were not known, but they were clearly wrong.

"Thanks to the partnership work between the police and the Northwich business community, we were quickly able to identify the pair and they are now being held accountable for their actions.

"The message is clear - if you come to Cheshire to commit crime, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted."