SOME women would do anything to own a designer handbag.
And for Jayne Rand that meant simply helping herself to one whenever she went shopping.
In just three years she managed to amass a collection 905 bags in a shoplifting spree that netted a haul worth more that $800,000.
The outwardly "quiet and respectable" 48-year-old housewife helped herself to luxury brands including Mulberry, Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Burberry - some priced at more than $1700 each.
Police believe she could be Britain's biggest ever designer handbag thief, stealing almost one a day from stores across the country.
A court heard Rand's method was simple. She walked into shops without a handbag of her own and then removed the security tag from the bag she fancied.
Then she calmly walked out with it over her shoulder.
She was eventually caught red-handed by eagle-eyed security staff at the House of Fraser outlet in Cwmbran, South Wales. Last week she admitted stealing 905 handbags and four purses from House of Fraser and various other retailers between December 2009 and December 2012.
Newport Crown Court was told the cost price of the handbags she stole was in excess of $225,000. But prosecutor David Wooler said the retail price would be much greater.
"A financial investigation had been looking into the case for some time," he said.
"It is estimated that the value of all the theft would be in excess of $225,000 but that does not take into account the shop's mark-up.'
Rand, from the village of Purton, near Swindon, didn't keep her extensive collection herself. She sold many of the handbags to other women - making more than $130,000 over the three years. She also admitted a charge of converting criminal assets.
Judge Rhys Rowlands told the court: "The defendant was only caught because people in Cwmbran happen to be quite diligent.
"She was caught red-handed with a handbag and in her car were two handbags stolen earlier that day. The evidence is overwhelming."
Rand targeted House of Fraser stores in the South of England, The West Country and South Wales. She had driven from her home in Wiltshire to the House of Fraser outlet in the Cwmbran shopping precinct - one of the chain's smallest shops. After she was detained by store detectives, police studied CCTV images from the Cwmbran store and footage from other shops as they tracked Rand's shoplifting trips.
She was released on conditional bail for a pre-sentence report to be prepared and will be sentenced later this month.
Andrew Taylor, defending, said Rand was of previous good character. But Judge Rowlands warned that she should expect to be jailed for her crimes.
"This lady has pleaded guilty to a campaign of shoplifting" he said. "For all intents and purposes she has carried out a business, and we are talking about tens of thousands of pounds.
"It will be a custodial sentence of some length."
It is understood Rand's husband Philip, a 50-year-old planning consultant, and their two grown-up daughters had no idea about her criminal designer tastes.
Yesterday her neighbours in Purton said they were shocked to hear the "quiet and respectable" housewife had turned to crime. One said: "To say everyone is surprised is an understatement. We had no idea.
"There's never been any suggestion of anything like this going on. She is not the sort of person you see with a new handbag every week. There's nothing flashy about her but she likes her holidays."
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