Former civil servant, 55, is ordered to pay £3,200 after being caught stealing £253 worth of Laurent Perrier champagne from Waitrose
- Talina Llewellyn, 55, caught loading luxury booze into her Lexus in February
- Manager for Department for Work and Pensions found guilty in Swansea today
- She claimed she had gone to her car to get tonic water because she was thirsty – a side effect of medication to treat her brain tumour
A former civil servant has been fined after stealing hundreds of pounds worth of luxury champagne from Waitrose.
Talina Llewellyn, 55, swiped bottles of Laurent Perrier, Lanson rose champagne and Jackson Estate pinot noir wine in February.
She was caught loading the £253 haul into the back of her Lexus at the store in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
Talina Llewellyn (pictured at Swansea Crown Court today), 55, has been ordered to pay £3,200 after being caught stealing £253 worth of champagne
She was caught loading the £253 haul into the back of her Lexus at the store in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales
Llewellyn, a former manager for the Department for Work and Pensions, was found guilty of theft and fined £3,200 today at Swansea Crown Court.
The court heard she had gone to Waitrose in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, on February 5 this year.
When staff confronted her on her way to the exit, she claimed she needed to go to her car to get tonic water because she was thirsty – a side effect of medication to treat her brain tumour.
Defending Ashanti-Jade Walton said Llewellyn left the civil service after 30 years when she was diagnosed with the condition. She is still receiving treatment.
Llewellyn, of Cowbridge, has a previous police penalty notice for shoplifting from 2013.
Judge Paul Thomas QC fined her £400 and ordered her to pay £2,800 prosecution costs.
He said: ‘You felt you would have a better chance of persuading a jury than a bench of magistrates’.
The former manager for the Department for Work and Pensions swiped £50 bottles of Laurent-Perrier champagne
A court heard shop manager Rachel Parsons stood in the foyer for up to 15 minutes watching Llewellyn at the plant section.
The pair made eye contact but when Ms Parsons got distracted by a customer Llewellyn disappeared.
She was then caught red-handed putting bottles of champagne into the boot of her Lexus car.
The court heard Llewellyn was taken into an office in the shop and police were called.