Cardiff shoplifter jailed for £1,200 six-week spree

A Cardiff woman who targeted stores across the city during a prolific six-week theft spree has been locked up for a year.

Rosie Chung stole goods worth over £1,200 from multiple retailers between November and December, helping herself to everything from candles and chocolate bars to laundry products, coffee, meats, and bedding.

Her crime spree took her to Farmfoods in Ely, Co-Op stores in Fairwater and Llandaff, Homesense in Llanishen, The Family Shopper on Grand Avenue in Ely, and Tesco at Culverhouse Cross. She also pinched a holdall from an unlocked vehicle in Riverside after being captured on CCTV reaching into the front seat.

Local neighbourhood police officers recognised Chung from CCTV footage and arrested her at her Ely home on Wednesday, 7th January 2026. Just two days later, she appeared before Cardiff Magistrates’ Court where she admitted 13 offences—eight shop thefts, two frauds, one theft from a motor vehicle, one public order offence, and one assault on a retail worker.

The court sentenced Chung to 52 weeks behind bars.

Neighbourhood Inspector for Ely, Canton and Fairwater, Tim Ursell, said: “Chung is well known to local neighbourhood policing officers who recognised her CCTV. We welcome the outcome at court and hope it provides some reassurance to the many victims in this case.”