A mother-of-three branded a 'professional shoplifter' after she stole thousands of pounds worth of goods on a 100-mile spree across the UK, has been spared jail.
Manuela Dinu, 36, walked free from court after she argued that her 15-year-old daughter was undergoing chemotherapy forcancer and that she was 'struggling' financially.
But despite owing £3,577 for previous shoplifting expeditions, Dinu posted pictures of herself and her children enjoying a trip to Paris earlier this month.
The Romanian nationalpreviously hit stores in Northamptonshire, Cheshire and Leicestershire after travelling there by car with up to two male accomplices.
She was arrested again last June after a security guard at a Sainsbury's in Nantwich, near Crewe, spotted Dinu and recognised her from earlier thefts.
Dinu would work with one or two other men; they would help her pick out the goods, keep a lookout for security and then pass her the basket to leave the store.
Manuela Dinu, a mother-of-three branded a 'professional shoplifter' following thieving sprees at stores across a 100 mile radius of the UK
Despite owing £3,577 for previous shoplifting expeditions, Dinu posted pictures of herself and her children enjoying a trip to Paris earlier this month
Inquiries revealed she was on two court orders at the time of the latest offences and none of the male accomplices have been identified.
Dinu claimed she carried out the recent thefts whilst visiting a friend in Crewe.
The arrest took place after Dinu was observed by the security guard after he was alerted by another shopper who lives close to the store.
He recognised her from earlier thefts in which £200 worth of clothing and £300 worth of razors and pet products were stolen.
Alex Farrow, prosecuting, said: 'He did a check of the shop floor and noticed a male and female. The male had a hand basket filled with goods which he believed was going to be passed to the female.
Mother-of-three Manuela Dinu was pictured in Paris earlier this month
'The couple have dropped the basket in the shop when they realised that they had been spotted by security and the guard managed to detain the female, that being the defendant.
'The guard recognised the male and female as being responsible for two previous identical thefts which had already been reported to police.
'He checked the CCTV for the previous incidents and confirmed it to be the same male and female - the previous incidents being from April 26 of this year, when the defendant stole £200 worth of clothing, and from May 21 when the defendant stole £300 worth of razors and pet products. None of those goods have been recovered.'
Dinu had six previous shoplifting offences on her record from 2021 to 2024.
In June last year she was sentenced to 12 months community order with rehabilitation activity days and unpaid work and then in March this year she was conditionally discharged for three years after stealing home and beauty products from a Morrisons store.
In mitigation Dinu's lawyer Trevor Feehily said: 'Miss Dinu is a single mother. She has three children 15, 13, and nine. Her eldest child, a daughter of 15, has been diagnosed with cancer and Miss Dinu is effectively her carer.
Dinu was spared jail after she argued her daughter was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer
'Miss Dinu was not working at the time of these offences. She tells me that she was struggling financially. Miss Dinu tells me that in the June of this year, after these offences were committed, she managed to get herself a part-time job, working 22 hours a week, which enables her to continue to claim Universal Credit.
'Her financial situation is much better already than it was at the time the offences were committed in April of this year. Miss Dinu made admissions in interview and she has entered guilty pleas at the first opportunity.'
A probation officer told JPs Dinu had previously been ordered to complete 170 hours unpaid under the terms of the community order but was excused doing them to the health of her daughter. The officer added: 'The concern is that three months before the end of that order she continued to offend. I have looked at the old offences and these are exactly the same.
'She enters the store with accomplices and if you look at her offending it was all over the place, Leicester, Northampton, Peterborough and Cheshire.
'Clearly there is more work to be done but you may have concern that the daughter is ill and having ongoing treatment with regards to the form of cancer.'
Dinu admitted two charges of theft at Crewe Magistrates Court and was given 12 weeks in jail suspended for two years
Dinu was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation for the goods stolen from Sainsburys.
JP John Bache told her: 'Miss Dinu, these are serious offences and they are made more serious by the fact that they are recurrent and committed while you were under two court orders.
'We feel that these offences have passed the custody threshold - however, we are suspending that because you need to take care of your daughter, If you reoffend, it is almost certain that the custodial sentence will be activated and you will go to prison.'
Dinu had been previously banned from Cheshire except to attend court under bail conditions imposed at an earlier hearing.
Another JP Prof Barry Godfrey, commented: 'The previous convictions are all over the place. It looks like aspects of professional shoplifting here. You can not escape that. She lives in Northampton, what was she doing in Cheshire?'
Dinu admitted two charges of theft at Crewe Magistrates Court and was given 12 weeks in jail suspended for two years.
