Cape Town - A Manenberg mother is on the brink of being branded a habitual criminal and sentenced to long-term imprisonment after police records showed that she had been convicted of shoplifting 29 times in 10 years, under 26 different names.
Each time Shireen Cloete was penalised for her behaviour. But she was caught once more, with a trolley full of clothing and perfume worth almost R22 000, from an Edgars store in April last year.
Cloete claimed that a woman she did not know had asked her to push the trolley. However, her story coupled with her shoplifting history drew no sympathy from the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court and she was sentenced to 10 years in jail of which three years were suspended.
She appealed to the Western Cape High Court, which referred her for a psychological assessment to determine whether she had kleptomania.
Police psychologist, Brigadier Gérard Labuschagne, said in a report before the court that people with kleptomania usually had a recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects they did not need and which were of little value.
Pleasure, gratification and relief were experienced at the time of committing theft.
He said that Cloete could not be diagnosed with kleptomania because she reported that she was motivated by a desire to support her family and wanted to sell the stolen goods for money.
The defence’s psychologist, Jillian Butterworth agreed. “Mrs Cloete did not describe the cycle that is often described by people with kleptomania. She denied feeling anxious before stealing, and does not get a sense of relief that is normally associated with kleptomania. She also said that she steals in order to feed her family. She said she cannot find employment and steals as a result,” Butterworth said in her report.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, Judge Pat Gamble, said Cloete’s first clash with the law was in 1997. Between that year and 2007 she was convicted of an additional 28 counts of theft – all related to shoplifting.
Two years later she was convicted of common assault and in 2014 was caught with goods stolen at Edgars.
“It would be fair to describe her as a serial shoplifter,” Judge Gamble said, adding that she had been prosecuted in a number of courts.
In 1997 she was prosecuted under the name Shaida Jonathan. However, her name had changed many times.
“It is clear from the appellant’s list of previous convictions set out above that she is not deterred by the prospect of being sent to prison yet again,” Judge Gamble said.
He set aside the sentence and replaced it with one of eight years in jail, of which three years were suspended.
He further ordered that copies of the psychologists’ reports be included in her prison file for the purposes of rehabilitation.
Lastly, Judge Gamble cautioned Cloete that she could be declared a habitual criminal if she did not change her ways.
Such a declaration carries with it the risk of a sentence of long-term imprisonment.
Judge Nolwazi Boqwana agreed.
Weekend Argus