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Courtney Choppen leaving court with a hefty £1,304 court bill after swiping treasured belongings from her family.

 A student who stole thousands of pounds’ worth of jewellery and electronic devices from her family before setting herself in a web of lies to cover her crime, has been given her sentence and will be spending her 18th birthday in jail.

 Courtney Choppen told betrayed family members at their home in Bill Quay that she had no clue where their possessions had gone. Hiding them in the boot of her car - which was recently registered as being stolen - had been spotted out wearing pieces of the stolen jewellery, as she assumingly spent the looted money.

 In order to bide her tracks, the 17-year-old had changed her stories on several occasions, insisting she was oblivious to the whereabouts of the missing items. Claiming she hadn’t been within close range of the alleged ‘misplaced things’, shortly followed by the declaration that she in fact was not aware that her family owned the lost articles.

 Arrested by police, Choppen continuously denied the theft until admitting her guilt on the day of her trial at Newcastle Crown Court. Given an 18 month prison term - followed by a restraining order against the house for 12 months - the student was found guilty of the theft of the belongings and money.

 The court heard that Choppen had started to take various items from the house as early as the age of 13, on Nov-ember 5 last year she was caught having just gotten hold of her siblings technology devices - swiped from her bedroom. Although she was caught in the act, Choppen still managed to get away scotch free for a further 2 months – allowing more items to be stolen.

 Bethany Frizzel, prosecuting, said: "On November 29 your car was spotted outside of your mother’s home despite you providing an alibi. Neighbours can con firm that you were on the premises at the time when your family were away on a short break.

 This appeared to you as a prime time to go on the hunt again, retrieving even more items for your family home – betraying them once again. You provided false evidence which stated you were on your college at the time, providing you actually attended college – we would find this more believable."

Choppen, of Kinross Ct, Gateshead, was unrepresented at court and offered no mitigation to magistrates ahead of sentencing. As well as being given an 18 month prison sentence without bail, she was ordered to pay £790 in prosecution costs as well as an £514 victim surcharge – making for a total court bill of £1,304.