A shop assistant from High Wycombe who stole more than £7,000 worth of expensive shoes by walking out of the store wearing them has escaped jail.

Eva Jaciskova, 37, worked at Russell and Bromley's flagship store on Oxford Street when she began sneaking out numerous pairs of the expensive footwear.

The Slovakian national, who lives in Castle Street, then sold the shoes on eBay, Southwark Crown Court heard.

She strutted out with £7,363.50 of goods before staff spotted the large amount of stock on the eBay account and investigated.

Jaciskova appeared in the dock wearing Ugg-style black boots and wept as the details of her crimes were read to the court.

Prosecutor Peter Zinner said: 'This is a breach of trust case. The defendant was an employee of Russell and Bromley in Oxford Street and she was employed by the store as a sales assistant.

“To that extent she did have a fiduciary duty to her employer but it is not right to say she was in any position of financial authority.

“However it transpired in June last year that significant amounts of Russell and Bromley stock shows had found their way for sale on an eBay account.

“In particular seven pairs of shoes and this is the initial tranche of shoes the defendant stole.”

Jaciskova netted shoes in Diva, Laura and Skater styles worth £1,214 with some pairs worth as much as £395 before staff grew concerned about a possible thief in their midst.

Jaciskova was called into a meeting and initially denied the crime but later admitted stealing the valuable shoes.

Mr Zinner said: “She admitted what she had done was take the shoes out of the boxes from the stock room over a period of weeks, worn them home and then placed them on eBay to sell them.

“There was an element of pre-planning and deviousness because the defendant left empty boxes in the right place in the stock room.”

The court heard Jaciskova initially avoided prosecution by agreeing to hand in her resignation on the same day, but staff feared this was the “just the tip of the iceberg” given the number of shoes that had gone missing from the stock room – with 19 more pairs discovered stolen.

Mr Zinner said: “Because the defendant had not volunteered the extent of her criminality and the second tranche significantly increased the loss to the company it was reported to the police and on the 24 November last year the defendant attended High Wycombe police station.”

Jaciskova pleaded guilty to theft at magistrates' court on February 12 this year.

Robert Conway, representing Jaciskova, said the mother was “truly ashamed and regretful” and suffered a “medical condition” that she was now addressing. Handing Jaciskova a 12-month community order with a three month curfew, Judge Michael Grieve QC acknowledged she stole because she had been in financial difficulty.

He said: “I am told and I can see from your behaviour at the moment that the realisation of your behaviour and being found out - that combination has caused you shame and regret.”

No order was made for compensation to Russell and Bromley.