A Nelson woman who stole eight thousand dollars worth of supermarket items, says her maternal instinct kicked in

Open Justice reports Ebony Rapana was sentenced on nine shoplifting charges, in the Nelson District Court on Friday.

She was living in emergency accommodation at the time, and says her pantry was empty and her children were hungry.

Despite no longer being in that situation, she must pay the money back, and serve four months of community detention.

Rapana's most expensive outing was in July 2022, when she walked out of a central Nelson Countdown with a trolley-load of items worth almost 1300 dollars.