Big-brand envy drives a woman down road to ruin

A WOMAN with a mental disorder told prosecutors she destroyed luxury-brand shoes and clothes in Plaza 66 because she and other ordinary people couldn't afford them, a court heard yesterday.

Ye Ting, 25, destroyed three Louis Vuitton shoes and three Prada skirts worth 31,850 yuan (US$4,304) on April 19, prosecutors told the Jing'an District People's Court.

She also stole a 68,200-yuan diamond ring and a Dior wallet worth 4,300 yuan from stores in Plaza 66 on Nanjing Road W.

The court sentenced Ye to two years in prison with three years' probation for larceny and willful property damage and fined her 7,000 yuan.

Ye, who was unemployed at the time of the crimes, confessed to prosecutors she couldn't afford the luxury goods so she destroyed them. Other people couldn't afford them either, she said.

After ordering a mental appraisal of Ye, the court ruled she was sane at the time of the offenses.

Family members testified that Ye came to the city when she was five and lived with her aunt while her parents stayed in Jiangxi Province.

Ye worked for a supermarket, in cosmetics stores and a nightclub before losing her job at the start of this year.

Ye's mother said the daughter became abnormal from the summer of 2006.

But Ye refused to visit a doctor and ran away from hospital earlier this year.

Eight appraisers signed a report saying Ye suffered some mental disorder but had the ability to exercise self control and judgment.

The court said it gave Ye a lenient sentence as she had repaid most of the money to the stores and confessed to police.