Woman on trial over £1.80 paracetamol 'theft' - BBC News
Myfanwy Elliot denies theft and says the packet was used to carry aspirin for a heart condition.
A 67-year-old woman accused of stealing a £1.80 packet of paracetamol tablets has gone on trial at a crown court.

Myfanwy Elliot, from Machynlleth, is accused of stealing a box of Panadol Advanced from the town's Co-op store in October.

Caernarfon Crown Court heard a shop assistant found the unscanned packet in Mrs Elliot's basket when she went to assist her at a till.

Mrs Elliot denies theft and said the packet was her own.

The court heard she said it was used to carry aspirin for a heart condition.

Store assistant Jodie Hancock told jurors she noticed hair bobbles and some tablets which had not been scanned in Mrs Elliot's bag.

Mrs Elliott told her she had forgotten to scan the hair bobbles, so she scanned them for her.

Asked why the hair bobbles were re-scanned and paid for, but not the tablets, Ms Hancock said: "Because she said they were from Spar."

Mrs Elliott was allowed to continue scanning her items and left, but CCTV from the store was later obtained.

Cross-examining Ms Hancock, barrister Myles Wilson said Mrs Elliott was using the Welsh word "sbar" meaning spare or "they're mine".

CCTV from the store appeared to show Mrs Elliott with a blue packet of tablets in her hand

CCTV footage was played to the jury which showed Mrs Elliott with a blue packet of tablets in her hand.

Shortly after, the footage showed the tablets were "no longer in her hand".

Giving evidence in her own defence, Mrs Elliott said she put the Panadol back on a shelf.

She said she kept an old Panadol Advanced packet in her bag to carry soluble Disprin for her heart.

Mrs Elliott told the court the old packet was slim and "they fit nice" in her bag.

She said she spoke a mixture of Welsh and English "which can be a bit confusing to some".

"Those Panadols have been in my bag since I don't know when," she told the court. "They were my own spare, from home."

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