Three thieves tricked staff and stole and expensive necklace during a sophisticated shoplifting plot in Wallsend.
Sarah Campbell, Sarah Dickinson and John Sams targeted a Ramsdens store in the town and managed to make-off with the piece of jewellery before being traced and arrested.
A court was told that the two women entered the shop one afternoon in November last year under the pretence that they wanted to try-on a specific necklace.
As is customary, the member of staff who served them locked the shop door while she removed the gold chain from a cabinet and gave it to Dickinson to put around her neck.
But, while the women chatted, Sams came to the store entrance and pretended to be a customer, prompting him to be buzzed-in by an employee.
However, the 41-year-old barely came into the pawnbrokers and instead kept his foot in the door to prevent it from closing as Dickinson handed him the necklace and the three made-off.
A court heard that is didn't take long to trace Dickinson, Campbell and Sams as they went straight to a nearby Cash Converters to sell their loot for £132.
Now, all three have avoided a prison sentence after they each pleaded guilty to one count of theft during two separate hearings at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court.
Lorna Rimell, prosecuting, said Campbell, 39, of Railway Terrace, North Shields, and Dickinson, 31, of South Terrace, Wallsend, entered the Ramsdens store on the afternoon of November 27.
Dickinson then picked-out a necklace, worth £629, and asked to try it on.
Miss Rimell said: "The staff member is suspicious and has locked the front door, which is usual practise when someone is trying on expensive items.
"At this point, John Sams appears outside and his knocked on the door pretending to be a customer.
"The staff member has buzzed him in and he's put his shoe in the door to prevent it from being locked again."
The court heard that Dickinson then removed the necklace from her neck and gave it to Campbell, who then handed it to Sams and the three fled.
But they only ran to a nearby Cash Converters and were caught after selling the gold chain for £132.
Magistrates were told that the necklace had since been given back to Ramsdens, so it was Cash Converters who were out of pocket.
Alan Brown, defending both Sams, 41, of South Terrace, Wallsend, and Dickinson, said both had suffered with an addiction to heroin but were now on methadone programmes.
He added: "The reason behind this was to get money to purchase alcohol, which they did."
Sams, who already owes £6,000 to the court, and Dickinson were both given a 12-month community order and told to pay £44 compensation each.
Campbell appeared at a separate hearing last month, where she also admitted breaching a suspended sentence.
She was given a 12-week jail term, suspended for 18 months, and must also pay £44 compensation.
