Highgate shopper picks out designer dress to steal after trying on clothes at exclusive boutique

A shopper from Highgate who tried on thousands of pounds worth of designer dresses before making off with her favourite is facing jail.

Paris Bregazzi, 28, visited high-end fashion boutique Browns in Knightsbridge with a friend at about 2pm on January 11, and began darting in and out of the changing rooms with designer labels.

A suspicious store assistant became alarmed when she came out of the changing room too quickly for someone who was meant to be trying on clothes.

When Bregazzi, of Archway Road, left the exclusive store in Sloane Street, the manager and store assistant immediately noticed a £895 Peter Pilotto Kia Print dress was missing from the shop.

She was arrested within hours and the dress was found in her possession.

Today, she admitted theft at Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Edward Aydin said: “A shop assistant said she came out too quickly for a normal shopper trying on clothes there.

“She was with another woman, they left the store, and immediately the shop assistant and the manager noticed that one of the designer dresses, an £895 Peter Pilotto dress, was missing from the rack.”

Mr Aydin told the court that Bregazzi had targeted Browns to steal one of their high value dresses.

He said: “She certainly didn’t go into Primark, she went into Browns: there is a deal of planning there.”

Bregazzi was arrested last month after causing criminal damage and breaching a restraining order barring her from contact with her mother.

District Judge Quentin Purdy adjourned her sentencing for theft so she can be sentenced for all three matters at Guildford Crown Court on March 4.