Marks and Spencer 'tortured' by Belfast shoplifter who stole meat products and alcohol

A Belfast woman who has “tortured” Marks & Spencer by repeated high-value thefts of food and drink from its stores in Belfast is to be jailed for eight months, a judge ordered today.

Beverly McNeilly flouted a ban on entering any of the retailer’s outlets to steal thousands of pounds worth of meat products and alcohol.

The 44-year-old had been issued with a trespass notice following a series of previous incidents.

Passing sentence, District Judge Anne Marshall vowed: “Marks & Spencer won’t be tortured by her.”

McNeilly, of McAllister Court, was convicted of five new burglaries and a theft committed on dates between January 3 and June 7 this year.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard she took bottles of wine from a branch on Boucher Road and left in a taxi.

Checks carried out later established that around £500 worth of stock was missing.

In a separate incident she was spotted leaving Marks & Spencer’s store at the Forestside shopping centre pushing a trolley loaded up with 30 steaks and beef joints.

The stolen food was believed to have a total value of £745. When arrested at her home some of the items were discovered in a fridge.

Prosecutors said McNeilly returned to the same branch to carry out a further high-value theft of food worth nearly £1,100 and clothing priced at £138.

The court heard she also targeted another outlet on the Lisburn Road, selecting meat products valued at £158 and leaving without paying.

McNeilly told a manager who challenged her that she had bought everything from a poundshop, handed back two packets and dumped the rest as she walked off.

Imposing eight months' custody for the stealing spree, Judge Marshall declined to activate a previous suspended term because it would have exceeded her sentencing powers.

She told McNeilly: “I could be adding six months on top of that.”