Two Namibian asylum seekers went out on a shoplifting expedition to steal expensive designer handbags to sell.
Frans Epentrius (29) and Tobias Iileka (33), who are both waiting for their claims for asylum to be processed by the home office in the United Kingdom took a trip to Bluewater shopping centre at Greenhithe to steal items.
The pair went into the John Lewis store on 23 December, with Iileka armed with wire cutters where Epentrius then picked an expensive small black coach handbag valued at £550 (N$11 417) and put it into a brown paper bag he was holding.
However, Epentrius saw he was being watched by a member of staff and he then hid behind a shop pillar and put the handbag back on a shelf on a different display.
The pair was then spoken to by staff who called the police, but refused to wait for officers to arrive and made off.
Iileka had also previously stolen items from the John Lewis store when he went there on 4 December with an unknown female, where he and the woman stole fragrances, handbags and expensive sunglasses valued at £1 356 (N$30 963).
Iileka, of Trefoil Cresent, Crawley, who was previously living in home office-approved accommodation in Middlesborough, was charged with shoplifting in relation to the incident on 4 December and for theft while equipped with the wire cutters for the 23 December incident.
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