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This Grandmother Stole £2 Million Worth Of Goods Over 45 Years

By Akinwale Akinyoade

13 August 2020   |   12:33 pm

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59-year-old Kim Farry is nicknamed UK's Shoplifting Queen after she stole products worth £2million in 45 years. Farry who served time for theft is also dubbed the ‘UK’s most prolific shoplifter’. The grandmother of 10 is now on a new path as she has been leading virtual fitness classes, helping people lose weight and addiction workshops to help…

Kim Farry [Photo- Simon Jacobs: Caters News]

59-year-old Kim Farry is nicknamed UK’s Shoplifting Queen after she stole products worth £2million in 45 years.

Farry who served time for theft is also dubbed the ‘UK’s most prolific shoplifter’.

The grandmother of 10 is now on a new path as she has been leading virtual fitness classes, helping people lose weight and addiction workshops to help hundreds of people cope since coronavirus lockdown.

She has previously been turned down for work as an escort because of her criminal record but she is now “changing lives with her new work.

In a TV documentary in 2016, the mum was refused to work at one escort agency in London because of her criminal record.

She hopes the work will “finally give her a break in life” as she’s become “heartbroken” at desperately trying to change her image.

Admitting that she loved the money she made as a criminal, the former cleaner has vowed never to return to her old ways.

Speaking from her council house in Fulham, southwest London, Kim today told Mirror Online:

“I look back and the money every day was good but I definitely won’t be doing all that again. I did it to support my family. “It became my job; I classed it as my business.

Now I don’t want to sponge off benefits too. I don’t want to live in the council flat. So now I’m changing lives and I’m determined to finally get my break in life. People tell me they are inspired by my journey so I enjoy helping others. I lead the fitness classes, I help people change their diets, lose weight and change a few things about their attitude sometimes. I use YouTube and Facebook videos and have 900 people who watch my videos regularly. I have had people talk to me in tears as they’re so pleased. I think that is so nice. These are strangers.”

Kim Farry | Photo- Simon Jacobs:Caters News

The idea to start her virtual fitness classes came from not being able to afford gym membership before they closed for lockdown.

She decided to have a go at it after admiring the work of Joe Wicks online. She added:

“Gyms are expensive. I do everything for free. I’m self-taught and enjoy it. It became more and more popular and I think it shows I’m trying to show I’m a good person. At the end of the day, I was a shoplifter, not a paedophile or anything.”

Explaining how she delved into crime, Kim explained that she started stealing at the age of nine to support her parents and eight younger siblings.

Shoplifting soon became an ‘addiction’ and she went on to steal larger household goods, including ovens, chests of drawers and other furniture from well-known retailers across London.

The former criminal took clothes and designer bags as her obsession grew over the decades. She said:

“It is an addiction. I was addicted, just like people can be addicted to drugs or food. I overcame it and so, since the fitness classes, I’ve also helped people cope with addictions, which can be bad in times like lockdown.

These people are inspired by my journey. Its strangers again who are addicted to anything, whether that be drugs, food or drink or whatever and I just help them. I just give them advice online through video calls or phone chats. I want to help because I know it is tough and I know I have changed. People don’t recognise that people can change.”