Theft-related charges against a woman who hoarded an enormous haul of stolen property at her home have been dismissed because of her mental state.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Jenny Tian's stash of shoplifting loot was so large hundreds of volunteers spent months cataloguing the items without getting through it all.
Ms Tian, 49, is now subject to the jurisdiction of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal after Magistrate Peter Dingwall dismissed the charges because of her mental impairment.
To save months more of sorting and cataloguing, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions proceeded on several charges without comprehensive lists of the property.
Ms Tian was accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of books, taken from the Australian National University's library, the university's co-op bookshop and Canberra bookstores. It was alleged the items were the result of years of shoplifting and petty theft.
A psychiatric report found Ms Tian unfit to plead and was unlikely to become fit to plead in the next year.
The magistrate agreed with the submission, supported by both sides of the bar table, the matter should be dealt with under section 334 of the Crimes Act.
The provision allows a court to throw out the charges and place the defendant in the care of the tribunal so a mental health treatment order can be made.
''Notwithstanding the large quantity of property involved ... I'm satisfied it's appropriate given the nature of the defendant's mental impairment to proceed under [the provision],'' Mr Dingwall said.