Wiltshire shoplifter made £500k with refund trick crime spree

A woman who made half a million pounds by shoplifting on "an industrial scale" has been warned to expect a "substantial" jail sentence.

Narinder Kaur, 53, tricked high street stores into giving her refunds for goods she had stolen.

She was found guilty at Gloucester Crown Court of 25 separate offences on Friday after a four-month trial.

It is believed Kaur, from Cleverton, Wiltshire, stole from more than 1,000 shops across the country.

Judge Ian Lawrie KC remanded her in custody ahead of a sentencing date yet to be fixed.

The jury, praised by the judge after what is believed to have been the longest-ever trial at the court, found Kaur guilty of 14 offences of fraud, two of money laundering, four of possessing the proceeds of crime, one of conspiracy to defraud, and four of perverting the course of justice.

The court was told Kaur, originally from Worcester, had legally changed her name from Nina Tiara.

At the start of the trial on 8 November, prosecutor Gareth Weetman said she was "an intelligent but also a highly dishonest and manipulative individual" who had deceived shops, banks, solicitors and even the courts.

He said that when she was finally arrested and charged with wholesale offending, she was not deterred - and continued her life of crime by lying to courts to get her bail conditions amended so she could go out stealing again.

Mr Weetman said Kaur had discovered a way of "beating the system" by getting retailers to pay her the full value of things she had stolen.

"The defendant discovered that with many large retailers, if you take an item that they sell into a store, claim you've bought it but don't have the receipt, but say that you just want to exchange it, you're much more likely to succeed," he said.

The jury was told Kaur targeted branches of Boots, Debenhams, Homebase, John Lewis, House of Fraser, Monsoon, M&S and TK Maxx.

The prosecutor detailed how she spent £5,000 at Boots stores including in Cheltenham, Malvern, Solihull, Kidderminster, and Dudley - but obtained refunds she was not entitled to totalling £60,000.

At Debenhams stores, she got refunds of £42,800 but spent only £3,600. She defrauded John Lewis stores in Watford, Chester, Milton Keynes and Cardiff out of £33,000 after spending only £5,200.

For a £1,181 spend in Homebase and TX Maxx stores in 15 different towns and cities she tricked the retailers into handing over £19,540 in refunds.

At House of Fraser stores in Bristol, Cardiff, Cwmbran and Exeter she spent £2,850 and claimed refunds of £23,000.

Her crime spree came to an end when police took an in-depth look at her bank and credit cards and discovered "an extraordinary history of refund payments", Mr Weetman said.

Kaur also defrauded eight firms of solicitors, instructing them to sue her brother for money, and using male accomplices to pay the compensation using stolen credit cards. The firms then forwarded the money to her before the frauds were uncovered.

The prosecutor said Kaur "failed to be deterred" after being caught and charged, lying to the court to get changes in her bail conditions for medical appointments so she could steal again.

But she raised suspicions at Dunelm in Swindon while trying to get a refund and was arrested. Police searched her house and found 49 shopping bags full of goods and £108,000 in cash.

Her home was searched again after she tried the trick at an Asda, and police found £4,000 cash in a carrier bag, among a total of £38,000 around her house.

Anthony Montgomery, defending, said Kaur had already had a lengthy period in custody on remand and later had been on bail but had not offended again during that time.