CHARMAINE Forbes went from hero to zero in less than a day but was too traumatised to recall the circumstances of her theft from a Wodonga liquor shop, a court was told yesterday.
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Forbes, 34, shot to fame when she assisted in the apprehension of a thief at an Albury pharmacy on November 14 last year.
But the next morning, Forbes was captured on CCTV stealing a four-pack of bourbon and cola from the Premix King on Beechworth Road.
Click play to watch the CCTV footage.
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Licensee Jimmy North said Forbes, who was a regular customer, had bragged about her heroics before she ripped him off.
“She came in and said ‘did you see me in the paper’,” Mr North said at the time.
“I hadn’t read the paper yet so she told me all about her heroics.”
But solicitor Greg Duncan told Wodonga court yesterday the pharmacy hold-up had left his client in a fragile state.
“When she was interviewed by police (on November 29) she was still traumatised from the hold-up and could not recall the events of the theft,” he told magistrate Paul Smith.
Mr Duncan said Forbes’ assistance in apprehending the pharmacy thief had generated a lot of positive publicity but she was then held up to ridicule when her own crime came to light.
Forbes had chased a masked man who held up Fifield’s Family Pharmacy with a knife on November 14.
She followed his car and gave number plate details to Albury police, which led to the man’s quick arrest.
Mr Duncan said Forbes had apologised to Mr North and repaid $15 towards the $19 worth of alcohol she robbed.
“She has a bad record but she has been doing her best for the last few years,” Mr Duncan said.
Forbes was convicted and fined $150.
Mr North said yesterday he doubted the sincerity of the apology he got from Forbes.
“She only apologised because she got caught,” he said.
