Woman who stole £2k worth of drinks from one Greggs store avoids prison

A prolific shoplifter who stole more than £2,000 worth of soft drinks from one Greggs store has avoided prison. Tiffany O'Neill, 28, was handed a suspended sentence at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to 80 offences. Since May, O'Neill had been arrested, charged and remanded to court 11 times. She was ultimately charged with 69 theft offences. The Metropolitan Police said O'Neill had repeatedly targeted the same Greggs store on Electric Avenue in Brixton. Officers estimated they had spent more than 120 hours on the case since her arrest in May, including preparing case files and attending court hearings. At all but one court appearance in recent months she was granted bail, despite repeatedly breaching her bail conditions. O'Neill was initially banned from entering the London Borough of Lambeth and required to wear a GPS tag as a condition of her bail, but the tag was never fitted. Three sentencing hearings were previously adjourned because she failed to appear in court, and a fourth was delayed earlier this week due to technical issues. The Met said the case highlighted its "continued calls for the criminal justice system to hold prolific offenders to account". Roisin Currie, chief executive of Greggs, said: "The safety and wellbeing of our colleagues and customers is always our priority, and persistent incidents of theft can have a real impact on those in our shops."