A PAIR of Romanian tourists wearing doctored jackets stole £519 worth of goods from Boots while ‘on holiday’ in Northwich.

Marius Moncea, 31, and Eliza-Nicloleta Spataru, 23, appeared before Chester Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Novermber 29, where they pleaded guilty, through an interpreter, to one count each of theft from a shop.

Prosecutor, Georgia Leyland, told the court how on Friday, November 11, the pair stole £519 worth of nicotine replacement products, medication, and cosmetics from the Boots store on Witton Street in Northwich, but had not been caught.

However when they returned to the store the following day, security staff spotted them on CCTV cameras and then called the police.

They were allowed to leave the store, but police followed them to a parked car, which they got into.

Searching the car, police found a black bin liner containing the Boots goods which had been stolen the previous day.

Police then searched the pair and found the linings of their jackets had been cut open and altered to conceal stolen goods.

When interviewed by police, both offered no comment. 

The pair are in the UK on tourist visas, and were staying at an hotel at the time of the theft, though they have since found more secure accomodation. 

Mr Moncea, who has lived on and off in the UK for 10 years, has two previous convictions for theft, the most recent in 2013.

Miss Spataru has no previous convictions.  

Richard Sibeon, defending, asked the bench to consider a conditional discharge, explaining as neither speaks English, both would struggle to engage with a community order. 

He said: “A conditional discharge would in no way be a let-off, as it would be hanging over them for 12-24 month. If either were back in court for any matter, this would strike them firmly in the face.”

He also said that as neither has a known source of income in the UK, a fine would also be difficult to enforce.

Magistrates rejected the idea of a conditional discharge and adjourned the case for sentencing until December 15, to allow time for the probation service time to produce a pre-sentence report.