TWO men and a woman who stole £7,500 worth of booze from supermarkets in Chester and Northwich have been jailed for nine months.

Elena Marin, 30, Florin Marin, 42 and Marian Mitica, 30, all of St George's Road, Redditch, were sentenced at Chester Magistrates Court today (February 27) for their "spree of offending".

The trio, who had all pleaded guilty to a series of shoplifting offences at a previous hearing, stole thousands of pounds worth of alcohol from Waitrose and Tesco in Chester, as well as a Waitrose store in Northwich, on February 11 this year.

Prosecuting, Rob Youds told the court the total value of items stolen amounted to around £7,500 and that "significant planning" had gone into the thefts.

The defendants had aroused suspicion when a CCTV operator saw a Volvo parked at the Iceland car park in Frodsham Street at 8.30pm, where the defendants were seen with a large number of carrier bags.

When police arrived at the car park they pulled in behind the Volvo and detained Florin Marin, who was the driver, while they searched the vehicle.

The boot of the car was full of bags with alcohol bottles, some with the security tags still on them.

Elena Marin had tried to flee the scene but was arrested, while Mitica was detained in the nearby Tesco store, having been found concealing bottles of alcohol.

It later became apparent that the trio had also stolen booze from Waitrose stores in Chester and Northwich.

CCTV footage was obtained by police and describing the theft in Northwich, Mr Youds told the court: "They entered separately and then gathered together on the alcohol aisle.

"Florin removes bottles of alcohol from boxes and puts them in a trolley. He goes off camera and then comes back into view and the bottles are not there anymore.

"Marian hides bottles on his person. Marian and Elena then leave and return to take more items."

Defending, Mark Evans told the court that the trio had recently come to the UK – Mitica just two days prior to the thefts - in search of a better life.

They had families back in Romania living in "extreme poverty" who were dependant on them sending money back home.

Mr Evans said Elena and Florin Marin, who are married, had found work in a frozen food factory but it had recently started to diminish and it was causing them financial difficulties.

This was exacerbated by having a one-year-old child in Romania, while Florin Marin had a child from a previous marriage who required support. In addition, Elena Marin has HIV and was struggling to get medical treatment, Mr Evans added.

The court heard that the trio had been promised work in Chester but it had fallen through.

Mr Evans said: "Marian came two days before the offence and was told there would be a job waiting for him on arrival but there wasn't. This caused him great panic.

"They've made a very poor decision. They were surprised how easily they got away with stealing. Naively they continued to try their luck which was obviously going to run out at some stage.

"I, myself, am surprised how they got away with such an amount. The way they carried out the offence was unsophisticated. They were putting bottles up jumpers and sleeves.

"The true measure of the people before you has been their impeccable cooperation. All three made full admissions. Fortunately there was no loss to the stores as all the items were recovered."

The trio were all jailed for 40 weeks and disqualified from driving for 12 months. A deprivation order was made to confiscate the Volvo involved.