A SHOPLIFTER who committed her crimes while holidaying with family in the New Forest has appeared in court.

Annmarie Connors stole three pairs of sunglasses worth £770 from Boots Opticians in Lymington, and one pair of glasses valued at £190 from the New Milton branch, on November 26, 2023.

She also stole items from Tesco in Caird Avenue, New Milton on April 24 of this year.

Connors, 29 and of Garfield Road in Surrey, was arrested in May after police drove two hours to locate her.

PC Martha Appleby, of New Milton Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), said: “I’m so very pleased for the business community here that Connors has been held accountable for her crimes.

"Retail crime is one of our local priorities, in addition to all the other work that the team deal with.

“Initially, we didn’t know the identity of the person responsible for these thefts, but my team and I were determined to identify her, get her to court and seek justice for the stores in question.

“Upon eventually identifying Connors, we completed two arrest attempts in Surrey, the second of which was in May and proved successful.

“I must say that she was most shocked to see us knocking at her door, a good two-hour drive away from New Milton.

“There was an initial denial about her involvement in the crimes, but after being shown the CCTV images of the incidents, she had no option but to admit responsibility.

“Some may question why officers went all that way to get Connors. New Milton NPT will robustly deal with prolific offenders, and will make attempts to apprehend those offenders who blight our town, wherever they may be.”

Connors was sentenced for the three thefts at Staines Magistrates’ Court on Friday, October 4.

She was ordered to pay nearly £800 in fines and compensation.

PC Appleby added: “Connors would visit the area on holiday with family, and commit thefts, knowing that no one locally would know who she was and evade prosecution for her crimes.

"Having now met her, we can provide identification statements and successfully prosecute her, should she return to our area and commit crime, which we would be unable to do, had we not met her. Hopefully this prosecution against her will deter her from coming to the area again.

“I must place on record my huge thanks to the local business community for their support throughout our investigation.

“If it wasn’t for their hard work and help along the way, identifying Connors would have been that much harder.

“I hope this case sends out a very clear message to others thinking of committing criminality in New Milton. We won’t tolerate it and we will work tirelessly to bring you before the courts.”