By Sebastian Murphy-bates For Mailonline
Published: 10:25 BST, 3 April 2019 | Updated: 10:25 BST, 3 April 2019
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Sophia Gorden (left, outside Manchester Magistrates' Court today) would not scan items for friends such as Shelley Harris (right) who said they could not afford food
A check-out assistant who ran a 'Robin Hood' theft racket by giving hard-up friends freebies has been spared jail but banned from a shopping centre.
Mother-of-two Sophia Gorden didn't scan items placed on her conveyor belt by select friends who said they couldn't afford to pay.
The 43-year-old got away with her scam for up to three months until she was caught following an investigation at Quality Save in Stretford, Greater Manchester.
Gorden - who worked at Quality Save for three years - later said she had given away goods to two customers on at least 16 occasions although the value of the missing items is not known.
She insisted she had failed to scan the purchases due to a 'misplaced sense of being helpful to people'.
She lost her job at Quality Save following the probe and was later banned from Stretford Arndale - which in turn cost her another job at fashion retailers Peacocks, which has a branch in the mall.
Gorden admitted 16 charges of theft by employee and was ordered to complete a 12 month community order which will include 200 hours of unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay £285 costs at Manchester Magistrates' Court.
One of her friends was also arrested for stealing groceries during the illicit 'free' transactions. It is thought the store will not be insured for the thefts of the missing items due to the willing involvement of an employee.
Shelley Harris, 32, of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, admitted stealing from the store and was fined £120 with £175 costs and was ordered to pay £180
