According to a recent court ruling, the woman, (whose name I won't mention because it would only further the misery in this world) was caught on video stuffing 21 items into her purse of a value of $475 from a Sears store on January 8, 2013. She told a judge that she had two small children and another on the way while her husband was out of work.
Prosecutors noted, however, that she lives in a $500,000 home and drives a Mercedes.
A store employee testified at her trial that he had seen her steal items a few weeks prior but she got away before he could find her.
The 31-year-old recently asked a judge for absolution in return for a $1,000 donation to charity because a criminal record would hamper her efforts to visit her husband's parents in the U.S.A. but a judge ruled that she'd have to go through probation and pay a fine.
Her story is remarkably common in Quebec and shows that otherwise good people can have their judgment clouded by the intoxicating rush of getting away with something illegal.
Shoplifting has not been discussed much recently, perhaps because bricks and mortar retail outlets are too busy trying to figure out how to survive the onslaught of online shopping, so it's unclear what the most recent trends are.
But according to numbers from four years back thieves steal about $1.6 million from retail stores every day in Quebec, with about half of all thefts committed by employees. The 2011 statistic of $585 million was down from an estimated $800 million four years earlier.
The downtown Simon's outlet reported in 2011 that it nabs five thieves a day, who justify their actions by assuming that stores are rich and can afford to take a loss, according to an employee.
Thieves often have psychological issues to deal with and many of those caught are brought for group discussion therapy at an establishment somewhere near Girouard and NDG Ave.
About one-in-three shoplifters is inspired to steal by depression, while many others have kleptomania.
Quebec supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies lost $418 million in 2010. Furniture, home furnishings, computers, software, appliance, hardware and department stores lost $166 million. Shoplifters consisted of 53 per cent men and 33 per cent women and 12 percent were teens. It's the most common type of crime among minors.