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AIBU?

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AIBU to think sentencing for theft and online offences seems inconsistent

3 replies

WhenTheDustSettles · 30/04/2026 10:31

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15778341/Moment-middle-class-shoplifter-grabs-trendy-Jellycat-toy-stuffs-handbag-4-000-haul-shes-spared-jail.html

Just how does she get away with it when Lucy Connolly was jailed for 31 months for a tweet? Not that I think LC should have said what she did - I'm not defending that. But the sentencing is way off beam.

This is the moment a smartly dressed shoplifter grabs a trendy Jellycat toy and stuffs it in her handbag. Leanne Crawley stole some £2,528 worth of the upmarket plushies from a garden centre in Buckland, Surrey, on April 22, 2024.
She went on to snatch a further £76 worth of the toys, which retail for between £25 and £50 each, from the Lemon Tree gift shop in nearby Dorking later that day.
Joined by a male accomplice throughout, the pair finally travelled to an M&S store in Ashtead where they walked off with £590 worth of champagne.
They struck again more recently, on September 25 last year, when they helped themselves to a staggering £800 worth of Jellycats from another Lemon Tree branch in Banstead, Surrey.
Later that day, the pair were also caught on CCTV stealing toothbrushes and razors from a Morrisons store in nearby Caterham.
Crawley, 46, from Orpington, south London, appeared at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Friday after pleading guilty to five counts of theft – having also committed a further two offences in late last year. But the shoplifter, who has some 45 previous convictions for theft, was spared jail and handed an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for one year.

Moment middle class shoplifter stuffs trendy Jellycat toy in handbag

Leanne Crawley (pictured) stole some £2,528 worth of the upmarket plushies from a garden centre in Buckland, Surrey, on April 22, 2024.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15778341/Moment-middle-class-shoplifter-grabs-trendy-Jellycat-toy-stuffs-handbag-4-000-haul-shes-spared-jail.html

OP posts:
Batties · 30/04/2026 10:33

That’s not really a fair comparison as they are two different crimes. The fair comparison would be with other shoplifters. Shop lifters rarely go to prison.

PollyBell · 30/04/2026 10:35

All sentences should be tougher not less

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