Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman has pleaded guilty to shoplifting charges in the Auckland District Court, with her initial appearance rescheduled to Wednesday after two previous delays. The 43-year-old politician faced four distinct shoplifting charges stemming from incidents at stores in Auckland and Wellington. These charges included the theft of $695 worth of clothing from Wellington’s Cre8iveworx Store on October 22 and a navy cardigan valued at $389 from Standard Issue in Newmarket on December 22.
Ghahraman was also accused of two counts of shoplifting from Scotties Boutique in Ponsonby: $5773 of items on December 21 and $2060 worth of goods on December 23. The original charge of December 21 was adjusted downward from over $7200 during the court proceedings.
Dressed in black, Ghahraman stood quietly in the dock as her lawyer, Annabel Cresswell, entered guilty pleas on her behalf. The former MP has been remanded at large and is scheduled to be sentenced in June. The shoplifting charges carry a maximum imprisonment term of seven years.
Following the revelation of the shoplifting allegations, Ghahraman resigned as an MP. In a statement released in January, she attributed her actions to an extreme stress response and previously unrecognized trauma related to her work. She emphasized that her recent behaviour was inconsistent with her character and clarified that she wasn’t attempting to excuse her actions but wanted to provide an explanation.
Ghahraman’ s statement highlighted the impact of work-related stress on her mental health, with a mental health professional indicating that her recent behaviour aligned with an extreme stress response. She mentioned that the stress was connected to recent events and underlying trauma that had not been previously recognized.
The court set the sentencing for June, offering Ghahraman time before facing the potential maximum consequences of the shoplifting charges. Her guilty pleas mark a significant development in the legal proceedings surrounding the former Green MP’s shoplifting case.
-TIN Bureau