Camera thief wins CCTV battle in court, stealing charge dropped

Ella-Paige Julia Stokell came before the court on Friday with numerous stealing, drug and driving charges.

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While Stokell pleaded guilty to three counts of stealing, involving two cameras taken from Jaycar Electronics and a cap taken from Red Herring Surf Co in Launceston, her defence counsel, Fran McCracken, contested the validity of other CCTV footage put forward by the prosecution.

The footage showed Stokell entering the changing room of sporting goods store Sports Arena in Launceston with several track pants in hand.

She then leaves the changing room and places several items of unbought clothing on the cashier's desk before exiting the store without purchasing anything.

Prosecution submitted the footage as evidence for another count of stealing, namely the theft of three pairs of black track pants.

However, upon examining the footage himself, Magistrate Ken Stanton agreed with Ms McCracken that the footage was not sufficient to establish how many pairs of pants Stokell had entered the changing room with and how many she left on the cashier's desk.

Consequently, the evidence was withdrawn and the charge dropped.

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When speaking to Stokell's remaining charges of theft, Ms McCracken noted that, following her Centrelink payments being significantly reduced last year, Stokell had begun stealing and selling items to alleviate financial pressures but had since stopped.

This statement was backed up by police evidence, which showed text messages on the defendant's phone detailing the sale of the stolen cameras - collectively worth $357.90. Stokell's defence counsel are also contesting an evade police charge, which has been adjourned to April 20.

Mr Stanton also adjourned the sentencing of Stokell's guilty pleas to March 21.

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