A 54-year old woman convicted a year ago of a nationwide shoplifting and fraud spree 'on an industrial scale' could not be sentenced as planned on Tuesday (March 5) - because she had contracted Covid during her remand in prison.

This was the second day running that the long awaited sentencing of Narinder Kaur could not go ahead at Gloucester Crown Court.

The Recorder of Gloucester, Judge Ian Lawrie KC, had set aside both days for the hearing but yesterday (March 4) was told that Kaur had not been brought to court because she was unwell and believed she had Covid.

She also told prison officers that she believed she had suffered a heart attack. The judge heard, however, that she had been examined and had not had a heart attack - and had tested negative for Covid.

On March 5, however, after meeting with the case lawyers behind closed doors, the judge announced in open court that 'for reasons I am not going to bore you with' the case could not proceed and he had now arranged for it to be heard on March 19.

He had allowed time for the hearing to go on into the following day, March 20, if it was not completed on March 19, he said.

There had to be an adjournment because it was 'imperative that Miss Kaur is fit, well and present, preferably in person so she can be with her advocates, or by CVP (video link)," he said.

Defence barrister John Cooper KC said "We heard of her condition yesterday. It seems that what she was saying about her condition was absolutely right and I wouldn't like any members of the public to think she has been misleading the court. It seems we know now that she was not."

The judge went on at today's (March 5) hearing to set a timetable for a Proceeds of Crime investigation and Confiscation hearing at which the court will rule on how much she benefited from her crimes - and what assets she has that can be confiscated. The hearing will take place on September 27.

Kaur was found guilty last March (2023), following a four month trial, of 14 offences of fraud, two of money laundering, four of possessing the proceeds of crime, one of conspiracy to defraud, and four of perverting the course of justice.

Kaur, who has also used the name Nina Tiara, of Chosen Hill, Cleverton, Wiltshire, but formerly of Worcester, is said to have made half a million pounds by cheating scores of High Street stores into giving her refunds for goods she had never bought.

She has spent the last 18 months in custody - the equivalent of a three year jail term - and has been warned by Judge Lawrie to expect a 'substantial' time behind bars when sentence is finally passed.

*The Crown Prosecution Service believe that during her four year trail of crime Kaur stole more than 1,000 from shops across the country.

During her trial , which started in November 2022 and ended in March 2023, prosecutor Gareth Weetman told the jury "This is a case that is all about dishonesty. The defendant is an intelligent but also a highly dishonest and manipulative individual. This trial concerns how the defendant went about deceiving shops, banks, solicitors - and even the Courts."

He said Kaur had 'made a career out of deceiving retailers into handing over substantial sums to her for the return of items that she had not purchased.'

Her 'extraordinary' trail of offences had continued for several years before she was caught and had been highly lucrative, he said.

He went on "But this is not just a trial about shoplifting on an industrial level - it is about dishonesty on a far wider scale than that. It is about how, in 2019, she worked with a male accomplice to use stolen bank card details to make payments to a series of Solicitors firms and others.

"It is also about how she intentionally lied in the face of court proceedings, in order to mislead the courts and try to affect the outcome. It is about the substantial funds that she obtained from her dishonest conduct."

He said that when she was finally arrested and charged with wholesale offending she was not deterred - and continued her life of crime by lying to courts to get her bail conditions amended so she could go out stealing and claiming refunds again.

Twice while she was on bail awaiting trial police raided her home and found large stashes of cash as well as hoards of stolen goods.

She had also lied and produced false documents to courts to try to prevent herself being convicted of two speeding offences.

The jury heard that Kaur's theft and fraud victims included dozens of branches of Boots, Debenhams, Homebase, John Lewis, House of Fraser, Monsoon, M&S, and TK Maxx.