Shoplifter banned from going into every store in town

A woman has been banned from entering any shop in town as a consequence of her habitual shoplifting.

Marie Wanless is forbidden from going in to every retail outlet in the northern New South Wales town of Gunnedah as part of an extraordinary set of bail conditions imposed by magistrate Roger Prowse.

"If she doesn't go into retail premises, she can't flog anything," Magistrate Prowse said in Tamworth court earlier this month.

"The good business-people of Gunnedah might like that, as opposed to the coffers being ripped from them."

Wanless has a lengthy rap sheet, including assaulting police, resisting arrest, drink and drug driving, failing to appear in court, and a raft of stealing offences.

But lawyer Sam Macedone questioned the effectiveness of the bail conditions, saying he believed Wanless should have been ordered to attend a treatment program.

"When you are a serial shoplifter, you have a problem," he said.

"And that problem, more than likely, is psychological, it's mental."

But if Magistrate Prowse was seriously worried about the possibility of Wanless re-offending, Mr Macedone said, he could also have refused her bail at all.

"That will teach her a bigger lesson than not going to the milk bar," he said.

But local shopkeepers have applauded the move.

Locksmith Marty Gurney claimed Wanless had stolen from his store previously.

"Lucky we've got plenty of cameras so she was caught on camera," he said.

"So, yeah, happy to help out the investigation."

Hardware store owner Dave Berry is another victim of Wanless's light-fingered ways.

"I think it's fair enough," he said of the bail conditions.

"We deal a lot with shoplifting and dishonest people so I really don't want them in the store."

A Current Affair encountered Wanless as she reported to police.

She claimed A Current Affair's behaviour was "shameful".

"But you stole from people, didn't you?" Crime Editor Simon Bouda said.

"So did a lot of other people," Wanless replied.

She will return to court in August.