After going on a crime spree and stealing about £2,400 worth of items, a habitual shoplifter who belonged to a professional all-girl gang known as the “Spice Girls” was spared jail.
Westminster Magistrates Court heard yesterday that Nadia Pecco, 47, formerly known as Nadine Wright, had committed 15 theft crimes spanning nearly 20 years prior to 2021.
The acts she did as a member of the professional criminal gang that stormed upscale stores in London’s West End and stole £15,000 worth of clothing are among her lengthy criminal past.
The mother of four was required to perform 100 hours of unpaid labor after she admitted to handling stolen goods in 2009. Additionally, the gang attacked stores in Lewes, Sussex, and Bluewater, Kent.
Pecco entered a guilty plea yesterday at Westminster Magistrates Court to four counts of stealing from stores in Westminster, Stratford, Fulham, and Essex over the course of just over a year.
Additionally, the 47-year-old admitted to having a magnetic remover with the goal of hiding it.
After going on a crime spree, she was apprehended on Oxford Street on December 17, 2025, during a live face recognition deployment after being recognized by a retail employee. The technology has been used by the Met to combat shoplifters.
Pecco’s theft spree came to an end when she was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers on the well-known London street, as shown in bodycam footage.
On October 2, 2024, the habitual shoplifter stole £150.84 worth of accessories from a Stradivarius store. Just 22 days later, she attacked a perfume shop in Westfield, Stratford.
The court heard that at approximately 5:35 p.m., she took two Tom Ford Black Orchid Eau De Parfums, each worth £193, from the store.
On October 24, 2024, Nadia Pecco, 47, is captured on camera stealing two Tom Ford Black Orchid Eau De Parfums worth £193.
Due to “mental health issues,” Melissa Grant, 55, a former Spice Girl shoplifting gang accomplice, was exonerated of stealing £19,000 worth of designer goods in 2025.
Grant (left), a former Spice Girl shoplifting accomplice, said she had kleptomania and can’t stop stealing from stores.
Yesterday at Westminster Magistrates Court, the serial shoplifter (pictured), who was once a member of the all-girl band known as the Spice Girls and wrecked havoc on upscale stores in London’s West End, entered a guilty plea to four charges of theft.
According to CCTV evidence, the blatant robber enters the store while sporting a cream coat, looks around the shelves filled with high-end perfumes, and then seems to hide them beneath her outerwear.
Additionally, on December 9, 2025, at around 7:40 p.m., Pecco stole eight handbags from a TK Maxx in Fulham that were hidden inside larger purses and had an estimated worth of £384.84.
A day later, at approximately 5:50 p.m., she struck again, stealing four perfume bottles valued at £1,446 from a perfume shop at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex.
Her criminal spree finally came to a stop on December 17, 2025, when she was apprehended on Oxford Street while in possession of a de-tagger after being recognized by a retail employee.
In mitigation, Caroline Newport stated that Pecco is “very vulnerable” and that there were significant intervals between “five and six years” between her offenses.
She informed the magistrates court that Pecco’s “physical and mental health has suffered” over time and that “when she is in a stable position she no longer offends.”
According to Ms. Newport, the 47-year-old was forced into crime because of her past relationship and domestic abuse, and she “feared reprisals.”
She is essentially set out to steal by her ex and his cousin. She told the court, “She is extremely vulnerable in that regard.”
Ms. Newport stated that Pecco is “very keen to lead a different life” and “determined to get better to engage with her children,” one of whom is in foster care. She also mentioned the mother-of-four’s wish to pursue a career and enroll in a hairdressing program.
Ms. Newport continued, “She is eager to receive support from the community mental health team and isn’t shying away for that.”
She is embarrassed for her son and upset that she is back on the same path. She is deeply remorseful. She feels profoundly that she has let people down while being exploited.
In addition to a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement, the 47-year-old was given an 18-month community order.
Pecco, of Surrey, was mandated to pay a £114 fee in addition to £50 in costs. The Magistrates Court did not order her to pay damages.
She was also subject to a Criminal Behavior Order (CBO) that was valid until April 20, 2029.
Oxford Street, Stratford Shopping Mall, Westfield in Stratford City, and the City of Westminster are all off limits to her by the CBO.
Concessions were made, nevertheless, so she could use Victoria station to get to Hyde Park and Green Park.
She will also be required to follow any future banning orders imposed by any particular business or branch as part of her CBO.
At Westminster Magistrates Court, Pecco (seen committing the crime on October 24, 2024) entered a guilty plea to four charges of stealing from stores in Westminster, Stratford, Fulham, and Essex over the course of slightly over a year.
When Pecco was taken into custody by Metropolitan Police officers on Oxford Street on December 17, 2025, bodycam footage shows her becoming very upset.
Additionally, she was informed that without the probation service’s previous approval, she would not be permitted to travel to Jamaica to assist her grandmother.
“Tackling shoplifting is a top priority for the Met, and we solved nearly twice as many cases last year while arresting nearly 50% more suspects,” stated Detective Inspector David Saffery of the West End Crime Team. “Pecco was brazen in her offending, carrying out multiple thefts across high-value stores in the West End, targeting expensive clothing and perfumes.”Before being found and taken into custody via a live face recognition deployment, she was recognized through CCTV inquiries and distributed as sought. This is an obvious illustration of how technology enables us to swiftly locate and apprehend criminals endangering communities throughout London.
“The imprisonment of Nadia Pecco is a major step forward in disrupting the “Spice Girls,” stated Jamie Conroy, Acting Director, Security and Operations at New West End Company.
“It is also the outcome of a positive shift in the Met’s approach to retail crime and long-term focused partnership working.”We have personally witnessed the direct effects this organized crime gang has had on our members, from financial expenses to employee safety and well-being, as we represent over 800 West End businesses. We have collaborated extensively with the Met for a number of years to develop a case for targeted enforcement, exchange historical evidence packs, and offer real-time on-street intelligence. “Tackling crime in the West End requires intelligence-led coordinated action.” We are spending £23 million on West End security infrastructure with the support of our member companies. We are confident that working with the Met, we can strengthen and make the West End safer.
It comes after Melissa Grant, her “Spice Girl” shoplifting accomplice, was found not guilty of stealing £19,000 worth of designer goods due to “mental health issues” and went free once more after taking more than £1,000 worth of perfume.
At Southwark Crown Court in 2009, Grant and another accomplice, Camille Gray, who was 20 at the time, guilty to conspiring to steal. They were sentenced to 21 and 26 months in prison, respectively.
After admitting to handling stolen items, Pecco—then known as Nadine Wright—was mandated to perform 100 hours of unpaid labor.
Ola Ilesanmi, 39, of southwest London, and Jacqueline Thompson, 28, of east London, had also been gang members.
After confessing to a charge of conspiracy to steal, Angela Johnson, a sixth member from south London, did not show up for court.
But Grant would strike again, stealing £19,000 worth of designer goods from Selfridges over the course of four days. He was later charged with four charges of theft from the upscale retailer and appeared in Westminster Magistrates Court.
The charges included two £4,730 designer bags, four £2,800 Optika shirts, five £6,620 Cas Lee shirts, a £1,810 medium logo bag, a £325 Oblique Bylon cap, and a £2,650 Alalia outfit.
Grant ‘acted violently towards a shop staff’ during the gang’s theft spree, telling her partner, ‘I feel like spitting in her face,’ according to testimony at the 2009 shoplifting court trial.
When officers detained one of her accomplices, they discovered that the bags included fifteen pieces of pants, four tops, and three pairs of shoes that had been stolen from GAP, Uniqlo, Oasis, and Next.
Grant and the other members of the gang were later apprehended by police after they were seen packing additional black sacks into the boot of an Audi.
She claimed that because of her mental health issues and her difficult upbringing, she frequently finds herself back “down the wrong path.”
She stated that although she doesn’t want to steal, the “voices in her head” tell her to in an exclusive interview conducted from her house in 2025 (shown).
Additionally, stolen clothing from All Saints and Warehouse was discovered in the bags; the total value of the products was approximately £1,500.
Later, they discovered £10,700 worth of clothing and underwear from La Senza, Topshop, Next, Monsoon, and River Island with the security tags still on them when they raided a Southwark apartment connected to the group.
An additional £10,700 worth of items, including lingerie from the upscale sexual store Coco de Mer, had their tags removed.
However, prosecutors determined that the “public interest wasn’t met” in pursuing a prosecution against the mother-of-two because of her mental health issues, therefore she was exonerated of her crimes when it was discovered that she had committed another crime in 2024.
Grant stated that “the voices in her head” told her to steal even though she didn’t want to in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail at the time. She stated in 2025: “I have an urge to steal because of my mental health.” I am unable to stop myself.
However, it has recently come to light that the 56-year-old stole perfume valued at around £1,500 from an Essex shopping center.
On December 8, 2025, Grant of Catford admitted to stealing a large quantity of perfumes from the Perfume Shop at Lakeside Shopping.
On February 5 of this year, Bromley Magistrates’ Court sentenced her to an 18-month suspended prison term.
Grant was also ordered to pay a £187 surcharge and complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities in addition to being barred from the store for the next year and a half.
Grant stated that there would be no “benefit” in returning her to prison after she was spared a conviction for the stealing spree.
