Mother gets probation for pushing child to steal

An unemployed Hunan province woman has been sentenced to five months of probation for telling her 6-year-old daughter to steal a smartphone at a shopping mall in Yangpu district, the local court said Monday.

The defendant, surnamed Wu, 32, was charged for abetting her daughter with a theft, according to Yangpu District People's Court. Wu's friend, surnamed Lin, was also charged in the case.

Lin was the one who suggested involving Wu's daughter, whom the court called Wenwen, after Wu mentioned that stealing might be a good way to make money, the court said.

In November 2012, the two women took Wenwen to a jewelry store in a mall in Yangpu district. They told Wenwen to take a smartphone sitting on the cashier's station while they distracted the shop assistant.

Police at the shopping mall witnessed the theft and arrested Wu and Lin at the scene.

The court initially sentenced the two defendants to five months in prison, but allowed them to serve probation because they were both pregnant at the time, said Fei Minwei, a press officer with Yangpu District People's Court.