Joslyn Gaye Reece: Fined for stealing passion fruit martini beverage from Con’s Liquor Geraldton

A woman who stole a premixed passion fruit martini bottle from a liquor store will be paying a much higher price after she was fined in court last week. Joslyn Gaye Reece, 49 appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court on Thursday where she pleaded guilty to stealing from Con’s Liquor Geraldton on August 3. Police prosecutor Sgt Paul White said Reece entered the store and selected a Smirnoff passion fruit flavoured martini beverage. The court was told Reece concealed the product and left the store without making payment. When she was arrested, Reece identified herself on CCTV and told police she was drunk and did not remember why she stole the alcohol. Reece’s defence lawyer said it was a low-level stealing and Reece had gaps in her record. Magistrate Angus Hockton said if Reece continued to offend and became a “menace in the community”, she was “not far off from an order”. “When you steal, everyone else has to pay more to subsidise what you stole,” he said. “It’s an expensive experience to steal, it would have been $32 but now it’s close to $500.” Reece was fined $200 and ordered to pay court costs and compensation of $32 to Con’s Liquor.