Panty-thief fined, banned
2005-08-17 11:56
Truro - A British man who raided bedrooms and washing lines on the remote Isles of Scilly to amass a collection of women's underwear has been banned from the islands for seven years.
Andrew Stephan, 42, was sentenced on Monday to 150 hours of community service for each of the 10 counts of theft to which he pleaded guilty last month. He was ordered to pay more than $1 800 in costs.
Judge Paul Darlow also barred Stephan from visiting the Isles of Scilly, off England's southwest tip, or entering a house without invitation for seven years.
The grey-haired father-of-two stole 160 pairs of panties and various sex toys from homes on the isles' main island of St Mary's, where crime is uncommon and doors are left unlocked.
A matter of broken trust
Passing sentence, the judge said Stephan had broken the long-standing trust unique to small communities like St Mary's.
"That is a trust that does not unfortunately exist on the mainland, and one that must even on St Mary's have been badly shaken by the discovery of your activities," Darlow said.
Defence attorney Llewellyn Sellick said Stephan felt "deeply ashamed" of what he had done.
Stashes of women's underwear were found in the house Stephan once shared with his estranged wife when her new boyfriend pried apart floorboards looking for water pipes.
Over the next few days he lifted hatches set into the floor to search other parts of the loft space and found more, plus sex toys and photographs. Underwear continued to turn up around the house and in the garden shed over the next few months.
- AP