REID: WOULD BE SOCIAL WORKER SPARED JAIL

An aspiring social worker who grabbed a TV from a looted store was spared jail today (Thurs) because she handed herself in to police.

Natasha Reid, 24, stole the JVC set, valued at £269.99, from the Comet store in Enfield, north London, during the riots on August 7.

Three days later she took the TV to a police station and made a full confession, saying she had been wracked with guilt and unable to sleep since committing the offence.

A judge today handed her a suspended sentence and said her admissions to officers had saved her from an immediate prison term.

Prosecutor Wahab Agoro said Reid had been at a nearby McDonald’s with a friend at around 10pm when she noticed the wrecked Comet store.

‘She noticed the windows and door had been smashed by other persons,’ he said.

‘She entered the store knowing she was trespassing and saw a JVC TV on the floor.

‘She decided to take it, removed it, took it to her car and placed it in the boot, intending to keep it.’

Reid took the TV to Chingford police station and confessed her crimes to officers three days later, on August 10.

In interview, she said she had acted in a ‘moment of stupidity.’

‘She stated she didn’t know why she did it because she already has a TV,’ said Mr Agoro.

Reid was not responsible for the damage caused to the store, he added.

Andre Billington, defending, said Reid had no previous convictions and had handed herself into police ‘of her own volition’

‘Even before she was interviewed, she made full and frank admissions,’ he said.

‘It was her conscience – she couldn’t live with what she had done.’

He added: ‘She is a university graduate and was hoping for a career in social work, but that probably won’t happen now.

‘She is from a hard-working family and is thoroughly ashamed of the attention she has brought on them.’

District judge Elizabeth Roscoe gave Reid a four-month prison term, suspended for a year.

She told her: ‘Since you were last in court I’m sure you have been reading the papers and you will have seen where sentences start for people involved in the looting.

‘They are substantial prison sentences. But I’m not going to send you to the Crown Court for sentence, nor am I going to send you into prison immediately.

‘The reason I feel able to do that is because of various factors. Firstly, you pleaded guilty at the first hearing, but more than that you actually made full admissions to the police.

‘In addition you were the one who brought yourself to the attention of the police. They weren’t looking for you and there is no suggestion that your photograph had been publicised.

‘Handing yourself into the police reflects the remorse that you have expressed and I accept and recognise that, in your particular case, it was a moment of madness, getting caught up in a very serious incident.

‘But as soon as you got home there was real remorse.

‘Handing yourself in saved you very much from an immediate custodial sentence.’

Reid, of (21) Rosemary Avenue, Edmonton, was also ordered her to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work and pay £100 court costs.

She admitted theft and entering the store with intent to steal at a hearing last month.
ends