A hapless shampoo thief was caught trying to sell her loot in a popular Tyneside pub.
Prolific shoplifter, Jodi Mills, had gone into Home Bargains, in North Shields, and made-off with £50-worth of TRESemmé hair products.
The brazen 36-year-old thought she'd managed to get away with the theft and began selling the shampoo and conditioner at the nearby Ballarat Bar, a court was told.
Go here for the latest reports and live updates from North East courts
But she'd been captured on CCTV and recognised by police, who knew where her usual haunt was and attended the pub.
Magistrates in North Tyneside heard that, after staff confirmed she'd been selling the stolen hair products, Mills was arrested outside.
The career crook, of Spencer Street, in North Shields, was due to appear in the dock on Tuesday but failed to show and her solicitor entered a guilty plea to one count of shop theft on her behalf.
Prosecutor, Rob Lawson, said an assistant manager was working at Home Bargains on August 23 last year when he was informed Mills had been spotted putting "loads" of shampoo into her bag and leaving without paying.
He checked CCTV and recognised Mills as she made-off with bottles of TRESemmé.
Mr Lawson said: "Police have then attended the Ballarat public house and, after speaking to someone behind the bar who confirmed the defendant had been trying to sell the shampoo in the pub, they went outside and spoke to the defendant.
"She was carrying a plastic bag and they found a bottle of shampoo in the bag."
The court heard that Mills had 58 theft offences on her record, committed between 2003 and 2020.
Mark Harrison, defending, said: "This is unsophisticated. She is in a bar very close to where the shop theft occurred trying to make back what can only be a very small profit margin.
"Recently, her offending has slowed down significantly."
Magistrates decided that they wanted Mills to appear in court in person to finalise the case and adjourned it until February 15 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Mills will appear back before the same court on that date.
