EXCLUSIVE: ‘Wealthy’ mother, 37, caught shoplifting a $795 designer jumper at Westfield and hiding it in her Audi says it gave her a thrill and blames it on her post natal depression
- Yan Liu, 34, from Chatswood stole a $795 Zimmerman jumper from David Jones
- The court heard she carried out the crime despite coming from ‘wealthy’ family
- Liu walked into the store wearing one outfit and left in another, the court heard
- CCTV captured her taking the designer top to her car before going on shopping
A ‘wealthy’ mother who shoplifted a $795 designer jumper from David Jones with her husband by her side has blamed her behaviour on post natal depression.
Yan Liu, 37, walked into the department store at Westfield in Bondi Junction, Sydney, last March with the intention to steal a lavender sweater made by Zimmermann.
Liu fronted Waverley Local Court on Wednesday where it was revealed she was seen on CCTV cameras entering the store in a brown top, before leaving with the lavender-coloured sweater on just moments later.
Yan Liu (left), 37, walked into David Jones at Westfield in Bondi Junction, Sydney, last year with the intention to steal a lavender sweater made by Zimmermann, a court has heard
The ‘wealthy’ mother shoplifted this $795 designer jumper from Zimmermann. CCTV captured her walking into the store wearing one outfit, before leaving minutes later with the sweater on
Court papers state that Liu and her husband drove their Audi sedan into the carpark at the Westfield shopping centre just before 10am on Sunday, March 3, 2019.
The couple then entered the centre and went up to the fourth level, walking into the department store.
CCTV footage showed Liu selecting a number of items from the Zimmermann section of the store and taking them to the change rooms.
At 10.50am the couple left the department store without buying anything, however Liu was wearing a different top to the one she arrived in.
The pair immediately began to head downstairs and entered the carpark, before just two minutes later returning to the shopping centre’s lifts.
In this time Liu had taken off the Zimmermann jumper and put it in her car, the court heard.
Staff inside the Zimmermann section of David Jones soon noticed the missing item and raised the alarm with Westfield security, who called NSW Police.
In sentencing Liu, Magistrate Greg Grogin took into account a psychologists report that identified a history of mental health issues.
Liu was sentenced to a two-year conditional release order (CRO) with no conviction recorded. She was also ordered to return the sweater and pay Zimmermann $795 (Pictured is the outside of the David Jones department store in Westfield Bondi Junction)
Liu’s lawyer Joshua Blom told the court his client’s husband earned a ‘considerable’ income and that she came from a family of ‘wealth backing’.
He claimed the theft wasn’t one committed out of necessity and it could reasonably be assumed her mental health had been a contributing factor.
While urging Liu to continue to get treated for her mental health, Magistrate Grogin took aim at her husband and suggested he must have been aware of her crime.
‘He saw you go in wearing one outfit and come back out wearing the jumper. He was with you the whole time,’ he told the court.
Liu was sentenced to a two-year conditional release order (CRO) with no conviction recorded. She was also ordered to return the sweater and pay Zimmermann $795.