Handed over fake bank notes in Larne shop

A woman used a counterfeit £20 note at a Larne store and also exchanged another £20 at another till in the shop for smaller legal currency, a court heard on Thursday.
Ballymena Courthouse. INBT02-213ACBallymena Courthouse. INBT02-213AC
Ballymena Courthouse. INBT02-213AC

Details emerged at Ballymena Magistrates Court where Joanne Boyd (31), of Shancoole, Ballymena, admitted going equipped for theft on August 16, 2019.

The court was told when found with a pair of scissors at the TX Maxx store in Ballymena, she said they were for cutting off security tags.

She also had stolen items worth £150 from TK Maxx and items worth £48 from Peacocks.

The court heard a co-defendant was outside TK Maxx on a phone telling Boyd which items to take.

On May 15, 2020, the defendant used a counterfeit £20 at the Iceland store in Larne and also exchanged another £20 at another till in the shop for smaller legal currency.

At the time the defendant told police she thought the money was real but at court she pleaded guilty.

Meanwhile, the court heard the defendant stole a bottle of fake tan from a pharmacy in Larne.

Staff were able to provide details to police as she obtained prescriptions there.

The defendant told police: “I have a problem with stealing for the last year. I don’t know why, I regret it every time, I wish I could stop and I would like to get help with it”.

Defence barrister Thomas McKeever said the defendant had previously received a suspended sentence.

Handing down a six months prison term, suspended for three years, District Judge Nigel Broderick told the defendant: “This is your last chance to avoid going to prison if you go back to your old ways”.