The arrests were made in London on Friday 10 March 2023 after the man and the woman were seen in a vehicle which was stopped by officers from the Metropolitan Police.

Ionela Catalina Voicu, 30, and Ion Ciprian Dumitru, 40, both of Acacia Road, Walthamstow (London), were each charged on Sunday 12 March with nine counts of shoplifting and one count of attempted theft.

The charges were brought following an investigation into reports of shoplifting in Tesco stores in east Kent between July 2022 and February 2023.

The charges include the theft of: 

•         £850 worth of alcohol from Tesco in Ramsgate on Sunday 18 December 2022.

•         £1,500 worth of alcohol from Tesco in Broadstairs on Saturday 23 July 2022.

•         £2,300 worth of alcohol from Tesco in Sheerness on Friday 26 August 2022.

•         £875 worth of alcohol from Tesco in Tenterden on Thursday 11 August 2022.

•         £350 worth of alcohol from a store in Dover on the same date.

•         Alcohol worth £715 from a store in Folkestone on Tuesday 21 February 2023.

•         Alcohol worth £2,610 from a store in Tenterden on Saturday 28 January 2023.

•         Alcohol worth £2,484 from a store in Tenterden on Sunday 18 December 2022.

•         Alcohol worth £1,680 from a store in Redditch (Worcestershire) on Tuesday 12 July 2022.

The charges also include the attempted theft of £720 worth of alcohol from a store in Ramsgate on Thursday 11 August 2022.

The pair appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Monday 13 March where they were released on conditional bail.

The case will next be heard at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday 11 April.