‘You’ve abused this country’s hospitality’ Lithuanian model jailed for stealing £1,000 of sunglasses from John Lewis
Model and fiancee are both jailed for nicking designer shades to sell on to buy heroin
A LITHUANIAN model was told she had 'abused this country's hospitality' before being jailed for stealing £1,000 worth of sunglasses from John Lewis.
Nerile Narbutaityte, 25, was caught on CCTV trying on designer shades at the flagship store on Oxford Street on 26 April.
A security guard noticed five pairs - worth a total of £1,092 - were missing from the display.
Narbutaityte was arrested along with fiancée Mindaugas Vasiliauskas, 27, when they returned to the store five days later.
Both tested positive for drugs and later admitted they had stolen the glasses and sold them on for £200 to fund their heroin addiction.
The pair have a long list of convictions, and were last jailed for three months for theft in 2013.
Narbutaityte advertises herself for modelling work on website Bloom.com
Her Facebook is packed with pictures of her posing in designer clothes and fancy sunglasses.
She appeared in the dock at City of London Magistrates Court dressed in black with her long blonde hair loose.
The couple’s defence lawyer Evan Cranfeld said: “They are from Lithuania, they've been here for about 10 years, they came here after the equivalent of A-levels were they both did quite well.
“They came to join Mr Vasiliauskas's father, and had been studying at college and working in part-time jobs.
“It came to the point when they started to experiment with drugs, they became addicted to them and they have been ever since.
“They have tried to come off them but to no avail, although there are promises and good intentions - they are both looking to get back into study and to work more often.
“In terms of study they are dependent on family for rent and food.”
Jailing the Lithuanian couple for four months each Magistrate Edward Lord said: “You two have a dreadful record, it's astonishing the number of convictions for similar offences you have racked up over the period you have been living in the UK.
“It appears to us that you have been abusing this country's hospitality, and you're about to abuse it for a period of four more months - we're sending you to prison.
“You're essentially on an escalator, you carry on down this road and it's just going to get worse and worse.”
Narbutaityte wept as she was sentenced and was comforted by her boyfriend.
Vasiliauskas and Narbutaityte, from Walthamstow, both admitted theft.