Serial Charity box thief escapes jail again

A drug addict with over 200 previous convictions, including the serial theft of charity tins, has escaped prison again. Sharon Randall, 50, of Waterloo Street, Somerstown, admitted the latest two charges – theft of Rocky Appeal charity tins from QA Hospital on 30th April and 1st May – at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Randall had already been found guilty of theft of another charity tin from the hospital on 4th May and boasts a lengthy list of previous convictions including theft of a Macmillan Cancer charity tin from Palmerston Road. Portsmouth Magistrates’ have previously placed her under a supervision order for six months, and a four month treatment order for drug dependency, for possession of crack cocaine and diamorphine, and theft. Despite having 219 previous convictions, largely for theft and drug offences, Randall was handed a 28-day suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay £125 compensation to the charity.