NEW GLASGOW - A Hilden woman convicted of shoplifting has been placed on probation and ordered to stay out of Pictou County.
Kayla Ann OHara, 23, was arrested in a grocery store in New Glasgow in December 2010 after a loss prevention officer alerted police. The women had over $1,200 worth of goods in a shopping cart.
While the women were being interviewed, a New Glasgow police officer noticed one of the two children O'Hara had with her playing with an item in a diaper bag she was carrying on her shoulder. A search of the bag turned up a variety of children's clothing with tags still on and several bottles of alcohol, which were not bagged.
O'Hara admitted she had stolen the clothing from a grocery store in Halifax and the alcohol from the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission outlet on George Street in New Glasgow.
Defence attorney Steve Robertson said O'Hara is a poorly educated single mother of three living on $849 a month in social assistance and the theft of the clothing was driven by poverty.
Judge Del Atwood argued many people on social assistance are able to thrive without having to resort to crime.
"If the theft of clothing was motivated by poverty, the theft of liquor most certainly was not. There will be no more forays into Pictou County for this kind of spree," he said.
