Mum steals designer handbag and perfume worth hundreds to help pay for ex-partner’s funeral

A mother pinched a Louis Vuitton handbag and Initio perfume to help pay for her ex-partner’s funeral.

Helen Armstrong stole the handbag worth £295 and the fragrance worth £230 from the Fenwick department store on Northumberland Street in Newcastle.

Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard how she was caught on the second occasion when security guards noticed her and recognised her from previous CCTV footage, ChronicleLive reports.

Armstrong, of Brettanby Road, Felling, Gateshead pleaded guilty to two charges of theft from a shop. The court heard that she had not been before the court since 2004.

Holly Clegg, prosecuting, told the court how the 47-year-old admitted taking the items, after being stopped and spoken to. She explained that she intended to give the bag to her son and sell the perfume.

She said the two items were stolen stolen on on December 18 last year and January 11 this year.

The perfume was able to be resold by the store, as it was undamaged, however the handbag was never recovered.

Mark Styles, defending, told the court: “Ms Armstrong very sadly had to pay £3,900 for her former partner’s funeral – the father of her teenage son. While they split up, they remained on good terms.”

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Styles told the court: “When she says the bag was stolen for her son, it’s in a roundabout way, to ensure his father’s funeral is paid for.

“Your worships, this isn’t someone who has stolen to fund a drug habit or alcohol misuse or a lifestyle. This is someone without any means of obtaining funds needed to pay for a funeral. Your worships, they didn’t come anywhere near the amount she needed. She remains in financial hardship.”

He added that Armstrong was “thoroughly embarrassed” saying that “This is very, very unlikely to happen again.”

Armstrong was handed unconditional bail until her sentencing hearing next month.

Chair of the Bench, Joy Turner, told Armstrong that they would adjourn the hearing so a pre-sentence report could be prepared in her case.

She said: “As we are not sentencing you today, the next magistrates’ bench that you come in front of can sentence you in anyway that justice allows.

“You will come back to court on the August 22 when the probation report will be before the next bench.”