'˜Brilliant mother' spared jail for thefts

Amanda Harvey, 29, carried out separate raids on branches of Harry Corry, Next and Home Bargains, the city’s magistrates’ court has heard.

She has also been ordered to pay nearly £1,300 in compensation for the goods taken.

Harvey, of Battenberg Street in Belfast, was convicted of three thefts committed between January and May 2017.

The court was told she took curtains valued at £613 from a Harry Corry store, and £600 in clothing from the Next store at the Abbeycentre.

A further offence involved stealing household items worth £80.64 belonging to Home Bargains.

Harvey’s lawyer said she had fallen in with a bad crowd.

“It was under their influence ... that she committed all of the thefts.”

District Judge Fiona Bagnall was also told the defendant has been assessed as a first-rate parent to her children.

“The opinion is that she is a brilliant mother,” her lawyer added.

Imposing a total sentence of seven months imprisonment, Mrs Bagnall suspended the term for two years.

She also gave Harvey 26 weeks to pay the compensation to the retailers.