A confused shopper blamed a store detective for stalking her and causing her to be arrested for theft.

Linda Banks, 37, claimed she was distracted by the detective and walked out without paying. She pleaded not guilty to stealing a £10.95 can of warts spray from Boots chemist store in Wickford.

But she was found guilty by a jury at Basildon Crown Court and received a two-year conditional discharge.

Banks, who has a previous caution for shoplifting, told the jury that the store detective, Sam Ochola, kept following her around.

She added: "He unnerved me because of the eye contact. He never stopped staring at me and it really threw me.

"There was no reason for him to follow me. I decided to get out of the store and do other shopping."

Banks, of Upper Park Road, Wickford, added: "As I came out he suddenly grabbed me."

Mr Ochola, who now works in Hertford, said he had seen Banks acting suspiciously and when he stopped her outside the store she dropped the spray. Then the pair struggled until a passer-by advised her to return with Mr Ochola to the store. Police were later called.

Prosecutor Geoffrey Porter told the jury: "When the defendant was accosted by the store detective she acted in a thoroughly guilty manner."

However, Allan Compton, defending, said: "Perhaps the detective was being over zealous.

"Mrs Banks was unsettled by him and when she was grabbed it was only natural that she would struggle and scream."

Published Tuesday, January 21, 2003

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