City Beach Theft: Bryana Shera Turner admitted to theft during police interview, court hears

The Bunbury woman accused of stealing almost $14,000 through fake shop returns, allegedly told police in a recorded interview how the scam worked. Bryana Shera Turner, 29, is in court fighting 66 charges of stealing as a public servant, in which she allegedly stole $13,953.47 by refunding fraudulent purchases while working at City Beach Bunbury for six months up until April of 2022. The Bunbury Court on Friday heard from the last of 14 witnesses, Senior Constable Geoffrey Peck who conducted the initial sit-down interview when Ms Turner was under arrest of suspicion in July of last year. The hour-and-a-half-long interview was played in court, in which Ms Turner made numerous statements detailing how she worked the alleged fake return scam. “It happened, I’m not denying it didn’t happen,” she said in the police video. She explained in the video, played to court, how she would allegedly take money from the cash register and put it into her pocket to use or later transfer to her bank account. “I put the transaction on to a card, and then through EFTPOS, I don’t remember what I did with the receipts,” she said. The court heard that according to Ms Turner the alleged theft started as a way to feel some financial control over her then partner, who was allegedly financially abusing her. “I guess it spiralled from there,” Ms Turned said in the interview “I had no control over my own money.” The police confirmed this scenario as they agreed they were called to their address to break up an altercation, however, whether the thefts started as a result of the abuse was debated, as the police said some of the alleged thefts predated the couple’s arguments. Closing statements heard that Ms Turner’s alleged thefts became more and more brazen and in one instance she allegedly tried to credit the refund of a $119 Calvin Klein jacket that was never sold at any City Beach store nationwide. Her alleged thefts resulted in a staff member on March of 2022 noticing the cash registers at the end of the day being out by $10, with that missing $10 been seen allegedly in Ms Turner’s pocket. This led the staff member to make a complaint to the City Beach management, leading to Ms Turner’s arrest. Court was adjourned to next month, as Magistrate Michelle Harries said she needed time to re-watch the interview and assess the evidence for all 66 charges. The trial is set to conclude on September 5.