Criminology lecturer who boasts she is 'UK's poshest thief' avoids jail despite stealing Le Creuset cookware, premium steaks, wine, and boutique gin in M&S and garden centre sprees

Daily Mail​

30-05-2025

An ex-criminology lecturer who styles herself as the 'UK's poshest thief' has avoided prison after four-figure theft sprees which included stealing Le Creuset cookware.
Upmarket thieves Pauline Al Said and her husband Mark Wheatcroft also seized premium steaks, wine and boutique gin.
They have now been fined £2,500 between them for the daylight raids on a garden centre and a branch of Marks and Spencer.
Prosecutors did not appear in court ahead of the punishments being handed down.
The judge ruling on their fate described how shoplifters walking out of supermarkets with 'full trolley loads' was becoming 'more and more common' with the public calling for 'appropriate sentences'.
However, he decided against a custodial sentence and decided to impose a financial penalty after concluding Al Said, 35, would not comply with community service.
Since being convicted of the crimes last year, the former senior criminology lecturer at Bath Spa University has nicknamed herself the 'UK's poshest thief' on her biography on X, previously Twitter.
A court heard how the pair had visited a garden centre, armed with a de-tagging device, before trying to steal high-value spirits and cast iron utensils.
The couple, seen here outside Winchester Crown Court, have now been fined £2,500 between them for daylight raids on a garden centre and a branch of Marks and Spencer
When they were asked to come back into the store by a shop detective, who had seen them leave without paying on CCTV, Wheatcroft, 56, 'struck' the employee.
Almost a year later Al Said was again caught shoplifting, this time from a branch of Marks and Spencer where she had piled 33 thick-cut sirloin, rib eye and fillet steaks into her trolley.
She also had several bottles of red and white wine when she was spotted by undercover security guards.
The two thefts were valued at £581.48 and £570.42, respectively.
The pair have now been sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court after Al Said was found guilty of two counts of theft and Wheatcroft was convicted of one count of theft and one count of assault following last year's trial.
Representing themselves, the couple from Southsea in Hampshire claimed their actions were on the 'lower end' when it came to harm.
Sentencing, Judge Keith Cutler said: 'There has been some planning and a threat of use of force.
'I am satisfied this is not a case for a community order for Wheatcroft. I am satisfied it is not a case for Al Said to have a community order - I would not see her complying with unpaid work.
'The best way of dealing with it is by a financial penalty.'
He described the garden centre raid as a 'serious theft', adding: 'Wholesale walking out from a shop with a trolley load of items is becoming more and more common.
'The public have called for courts to impose appropriate sentences.'
Prosecution lawyers did not attend the sentencing hearing, and it emerged the couple will not have to pay towards the costs of their three-week trial at Salisbury Crown Court in Wiltshire last July.
Criticising the prosecution, Judge Cutler has now said: 'Wheatcroft and Al Said have turned up but no one from the prosecution has attended.
'There is no summary from the prosecution - the prosecution have simply washed their hands of this case for reasons I do not understand or accept.'
A jury heard last year that the first theft took place at Old Barn Nurseries in Horsham, West Sussex, on December 14 2021.
Laura Duff, prosecuting, said loss prevention officer John Dunkling 'became aware' of a female shopper pushing a trolley around.
Mr Dunkling looked at the store's CCTV and saw Al Said walking toward the shop's exit with the two bags, without paying.
On her way out of the store, Al Said was stopped by another member of staff who found the shopping bags contained £400-worth of high-value spirits including Mermaid brand gin and spiced rum.
The second bag contained more bottles of alcohol, Le Creuset cookware and a Le Creuset condiment set.
Le Creuset is a popular French-Belgian maker of high-end cast iron cookware.
The couple were asked to go back into the store and it was at this point that Wheatcroft became 'verbally aggressive' and threatened to punch Mr Dunkling, it was heard - before Wheatcroft then 'made contact with his back'.
It was heard that Al Said was armed with a security tag remover which she had used to snip off and discard tags around the store.
The second incident took place on September 30 2022, with Ms Duff telling how Al Said was seen walking around a Marks and Spencer store in Winchester, Hampshire.
An undercover security detective spotted her loading 'packets of meat' into a trolley.
Al Said tried to run away outside the outlet after security followed her but another guard 'prevented further escape', before the freezer bags in her trolley were shown to contain 33 steaks.
Also in her possession were six bottles of red wine and three bottles of white wine, with investigators finding she stole M&S products worth a total ££570.42.
Al Said was fined £750 for each theft offence and Wheatcroft was ordered to pay £750 for the charge of shoplifting and £250 for the assault.
The couple were told they could each be sentenced to 45 days in prison if they fail to pay the penalties by December 1 this year.