Prolific shoplifter in gang dubbed the ‘Spice Girls’ is cleared of stealing £19,000 of designer baggage, hats and garments from Selfridges as a result of she has ‘psychological well being points’

A member of a professional shoplifting gang dubbed “The Spice Girls” has been cleared of stealing £19,000 worth of designer items because she has ‘mental health issues’.

Melissa Grant, 55, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today charged with four counts of theft from Selfridges between December 26 and 30 2024.

She was previously locked up for 21 months in 2009 alongside other members of her crew after they grabbed large quantities of clothes and lingerie from West End stores.

The gang also struck at shops in Bluewater, Kent and Lewes in Sussex.

But following the theft in December last year, prosecutors today said the ‘public interest wasn’t met’ in punishing the defendant.

Grant, of Forest Hill, southeast London, was charged over offences related to two designer bags to the value of £4,730, four Optika shirts worth £2,800, five Cas Lee shirts to the value of £6,620, a £1,810 medium logo bag, a £325 Oblique Bylon cap and a £2,650 Alalia dress.

Prosecutor Malachy Packenham said: ‘There are mental health issues. A colleague of mine looked at it. Their view was that the public interest wasn’t met by prosecuting the defendant.’

Melissa Grant had been 39 at the time she and accomplice Camille Gray, 30, admitted conspiracy to steal at Southwark Crown Court in 2009.

Melissa Grant, 55, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today charged with four counts of theft from Selfridges between December 26 and 30 2024 (file image)

Prosecutor Sally Fudge told the court in 2009 that members of the gang were spotted by police on Oxford Street on the afternoon of October 2 in 2008 (file image)

The pair were sentenced over the theft of £15,000-worth of clothes from London’s West End stores.

Grant, then of west London, and Gray, of south-west London, were jailed for 21 and 16 months respectively.

Nadine Wright, 31, of north London, admitted handling stolen goods and was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Jacqueline Thompson, 28, of east London, and Ola Ilesanmi, 39, of south-west London, had also been part of the gang.

A sixth member, Angela Johnson, of south London, failed to appear at court after admitting a charge of conspiracy to steal.

Prosecutor Sally Fudge told the court that members of the gang were spotted by police on Oxford Street on the afternoon of October 2 in 2008.

Grant, Ilesanmi and Gay were seen meeting up with Johnson and putting clothes into black bags she was carrying.

Mis Fudge said: ‘Miss Johnson seemed to struggle with the weight of the bags she had, and had to put them down.’

Prosecutor Malachy Packenham said: ‘There are mental health issues. A colleague of mine looked at it. Their view was that the public interest wasn’t met by prosecuting the defendant’ (file image)

When officers stopped her, they found the bags were full of stolen clothing from GAP, Uniclo, Oasis and Next.

The clothes included 15 pairs of trousers, four tops and three pairs of shoes.

Police later spotted Grant and Wright meeting up with Thompson, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of an Audi.

They loaded more black sacks into the boot, before officers swooped and arrested them.

The bags were found to contain stolen clothes from All Saints and Warehouse.

All in all, the value of the clothes added up to around £1,500.

Police later raided Ilesanmi’s flat in Southwark, where they found £10,700 worth of clothes and underwear from La Senza , Topshop, Next, Monsoon and River Island with the security tags still on them.

There were a further £10,700 worth of goods with the tags off, including underwear from upmarket erotic boutique Coco de Mer.

Investigators subsequently examined CCTV film from other West End Stores, and found footage of Grant and Ilesanmi in Warehouse in Argyle St stealing items worth £500.

Miss Fudge said: ‘Grant behaved aggressively towards a shop assistant, saying to her companion “I feel like spitting in her face”.’

The prosecutor added: ‘This is a gang of organised shoplifters, active in the West End of London.’