{"id":367434,"date":"2026-01-13T13:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/367434\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T13:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:18:16","slug":"uks-poshest-thief-spared-jail-after-stealing-12000-of-alcohol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/367434\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018UK\u2019s poshest thief\u2019 spared jail after stealing \u00a312,000 of alcohol"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former criminology lecturer who described herself as \u201cthe UK\u2019s poshest thief\u201d has avoided jail again, after stealing almost \u00a312,000 worth of prosecco, wine, vodka and gin.<\/p>\n

Pauline Al Said, 35, gained public notoriety after being convicted in 2024<\/a> of stealing more than \u00a31,000 worth of Le Creuset cookware, premium steaks, wine and gin.<\/p>\n

Al Said and her then husband Mark Wheatcroft, 56, were fined \u00a32,500<\/a> between them last year for daylight raids on a garden centre and a branch of Marks & Spencer.<\/p>\n

Judge Keith Cutler imposed a financial penalty after concluding that Al Said, from Southampton, Hampshire, would not comply with community service.<\/p>\n

Since being convicted in 2024, the former senior criminology lecturer at Bath Spa University has called herself the \u201cUK\u2019s poshest thief\u201d in her biography on X.<\/p>\n

Al Said has now been convicted of stealing \u00a311,964 worth of \u201cexpensive vodka, gin, prosecco and wine\u201d during a nine-month shoplifting spree carried out to fund a drug addiction.<\/p>\n

\"Pauline<\/p>\n

The court heard that Al Said had left the \u201ctoxic relationship\u201d with her husband at the end of last year<\/p>\n

ANDREW CROFT\/SOLEN<\/p>\n

Southampton crown court was told she concealed expensive bottles of alcohol in her trolley by placing \u201cDisney dresses and dressing gowns\u201d on top of them.<\/p>\n

She has been given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and will have to repay Sainsbury\u2019s \u00a31,800, just over 15 per cent of what she stole. She was also banned from entering the supermarket for 18 months.<\/p>\n

The court heard Al Said, who is originally from Poland<\/a> and moved to Southampton in 2007, was funding a \u201cdrug addiction\u201d and recently left the \u201ctoxic relationship\u201d with her husband at the end of last year. <\/p>\n

In recent months she has changed her professional name to Pauline Tusien and launched a website in which she offers \u201clife and career mentoring\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your life looks great on paper but feels crap in real life, we need to talk,\u201d she wrote on her site.<\/p>\n

Al Said, who wrote that she moved to the UK aged 17, says she offers support on wellbeing and can \u201chelp people find clarity, when things feel complicated\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her latest shoplifting spree involved a \u201ccampaign against Sainsbury\u2019s\u201d. She went to the store on six occasions to steal bottles of alcohol and packets of meat, and in one instance even went to the store\u2019s caf\u00e9 afterwards to read a stolen newspaper.<\/p>\n

Emily Jarrod, in mitigation, told the court: \u201cShe is a highly, highly educated woman and has worked in the criminal justice system, although you might say that\u2019s worse because she should understand the impact her actions have.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has turned a corner and ended the relationship with Mr Wheatcroft in late 2025. She started work as a life coach and has been living with her mum. She has also regained contact with her sister who she didn\u2019t talk to while in this darker period in her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Gary Lucie, sentencing Al Said, said: \u201cYou stole mostly alcohol and seemed to target Sainsbury\u2019s. They were items which were easily sold to buy drugs. This was a campaign of high-value shoplifting over nine months. But you have shown what I consider to be genuine remorse.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are a highly intelligent woman and, as you have said, you could do a lot of good. I\u2019m aware you have ended your toxic relationship. Considering the value of the theft, I find a period of 44 weeks custody to be justified, but suspended for 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al Said was instructed to attend 28 rehabilitation days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former criminology lecturer who described herself as \u201cthe UK\u2019s poshest thief\u201d has avoided jail again, after stealing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-367434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}