A WOMAN visited a beauty salon for wrinkle-busting Botox injections in a bid to impress her husband – and then fled without paying, a court heard.
Claire Moore, 40, admitted running from the National Slimming and Cosmetic Clinic in Lake Road in Portsmouth.
Prosecutor Alex Dabson said Moore, of Kirpal Road in Baffins, Portsmouth, booked an appointment for lip filler and three Botox jabs, worth a total of £490.
But she asked the doctor to stop after just one dose of the muscle-paralysing toxin and dashed for the exit.
Moore told staff she had left her bank card in her car and would return to pay £180 for the treatment – but never returned.
She knew payment was required ‘on the spot’ but ‘dishonestly made off without having paid’, Portsmouth Magistrates Court heard.
Mrs Dabson said: ‘The defendant asked the clinic about Botox treatment, which costs £290, and lip filler, which costs £200.
‘She made an appointment for herself and a friend, went to the clinic, and gave her details using her maiden name.
‘She was supposed to have three injections but only had the one.
‘When it came to paying, she said she had to get her purse from the car.
‘She left but came back saying she did not have her keys, and asked her friend – who was still waiting for treatment – to go.
‘She simply ran out of the clinic and did not pay.
‘In police interview, she admitted going to the clinic and having the injection
She said she intended to pay but then decided not to bother.
‘She said she gave her maiden name because she did not want her husband to find out she was having the treatment.’
Kate Rowe, defending, said: ‘When she went to her car to get her card she was intending to pay.
‘However, she did not go back to pay.
‘Obviously, she was under a duty to do so.’
Moore admitted one charge of making off without payment on October 25 last year.
She has previous convictions for theft and making a false statement to obtain benefit, dating back to 1993 and 2001 respectively.
Magistrates gave her a one-year conditional discharge, and ordered her to pay £180 compensation, £85 court costs, and £15 into a fund for victims of crime.
The use of Botox injections has become increasingly widespread in recent years. Once the preserve of Hollywood stars, it is now a common procedure.