Two light-fingered Canadians have blamed Queenstown’s cost of living for their thievery.
His message for Emile Robert, 20, and Alicia Kate Monette, 19, was simple: "Don’t steal from supermarkets".
"It makes it more expensive for other people."
Judge Walker said other residents were struggling financially, "but unlike you, they’re honest people".
On 20 occasions between May 12 and June 11, the couple went to Pak’nSave in Queenstown and concealed items valued at $1052 in their clothing.
They then paid for a few other low-value items at the self-scan checkout before leaving the store.
Robert targeted the same supermarket 10 more times by himself between May 17 and June 10, using the same method to steal items worth $364.
On the night of June 8, he was at a downtown bar when he used another person’s credit card to make $38 of purchases.
The card had disappeared from the victim’s pocket some time during the evening and he did not notice it was missing until late the next morning.
Robert used the card six times the following day: twice at Pak’nSave’s fuel station and once each at the supermarket, Mitre 10 and The Warehouse, spending a total of $708.
He tried using it at Pak’nSave again later that day, but by then the card had been cancelled and the payment was declined.
He faced two charges of theft and one of dishonestly using a credit card, while Monette faced a single theft charge.
Robert’s counsel, Annaliese Carlaw, said the couple had miscalculated the cost of living in Queenstown when they arrived five months ago.
Robert had thought the credit card was his own after seeing it on the bar’s floor, and used it to buy drinks.
The following morning, when he realised it was not his, he made a "terrible and impulsive" decision to keep using it.
He had told her the offending was "not a reflection of who he is as a person", Ms Carlaw said.
He planned to return to Canada either next month or in October.
Monette’s counsel, Paige Noorland, said her client found herself in "financial strife" after arriving in New Zealand, and wanted to return to Canada as soon as possible.
Judge Walker convicted the pair on all charges, sentenced Robert to 75 hours’ community work, a $600 fine, court costs $286, and ordered him to pay reparation of $1598.07.
Monette was fined $400, court costs $143, and ordered to pay reparation of $526.
- Guy Williams, PIJF court reporter
