Carol McGiffin was a serial shoplifter as a child.
Carol McGiffin was a serial shoplifter as a child
The 63-year-old former 'Loose Women' star has confessed she started pinching items from shops when she was just three years old and her crime spree continued until she was 12 when she was caught stealing "Sellotape and a pottery horse" from Woolworths.
In her column for Best magazine, Carol explained: "When I was three, I used to pop along to Woolworths and steal mouth organs and stash them in the cupboard.
"Later, at age 12, me and a bunch of friends went on a Christmas shoplifting spree, again in Woolworths, where I was caught with Sellotape and a pottery horse in my bag."
Carol revealed police were called to the scene and they took her home to her parents - giving her a stern warning in a bid to stop her committing any more crimes.
She went on: "The police were called and took me home, where they proceeded to scare the pants off me with threats of a criminal record, which would probably have ruined my life."
The warning worked and Carol swore off shoplifting for life, adding: "I never did it again."
The telly star added she was shocked to find out a change in the law means shoplifters face a punishment of "a fixed penalty fine by post of £70" if the items they take value under £200.
She wrote: "When I read the headline 'Shoplifters must face law, even for sub-£200 crimes', I did a double take. What? So as long as you tot up your haul as you go and keep it under 200 quid, you’re good to go? Yes."
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