Serial shoplifter Nafisa Akhtar, 19, raised her right arm in triumph and sported a wide smile outside the courthouse after promising she would not steal again.

The teen and her friend, Anashra Ali, 18, were blasted by magistrates who asked “when was the last time you worked?”

Akhtar and Ali were caught stealing designer clothes worth £380 and £386 of cosmetics from the shelves of upmarket store Harvey Nichol’s Manchester branch.

Issuing a stern rebuke to the girls, magistrate Suzanne O’Connell told them off for grinning in the dock as they admitted charges of theft.

And she warned: “Do you understand the fact that you two young ladies who could do very well for yourselves but went out to a shop and stole and got a criminal record will affect the rest of your life?”

She asked Akhtar - who had two previous shoplifting convictions: “What is your excuse? When was the last time you worked? Why haven’t you worked since?

“You may have heard that prison is easy but trust me it is not.

“That is your choice, you can get a grip on your life and work with probation but if you don’t then the likelihood is that you will go to custody.”

Miss O’Connell also asked Ali - who has a caution for shoplifting: “What possible explanations do you have? “You’ve got no job - you go to Harvey Nichols to steal, do you think that is acceptable?

“You shoplifting and taking things comes at a loss to the company and they will have to raise prices to recover that money.

“Everybody who goes to Harvey Nichols will have to pay more money in that shop.

“That may even effect members of your own family. If you carry on like this then you will find yourself in prison.”

The pair, from Cheetham Hill, Manchester, embarked on their shoplifting expedition on December 12 after the store, a favourite of footballers and TV stars, opened late for Christmas shoppers.

Prosecuting, Miss Risha Seth told Manchester magistrates court: “The on-duty security officer Will Foster describes witnessing two females acting suspiciously on the cosmetics floor at 8.34pm.

“Both of them seemed to be shielding each other from members of the public.

“The girls made their way towards the exits not going near the tills with no intention of paying for any of the items.

“They attempted to exit but were approached by the security guard and asked to go back inside where the items were recovered. They were able to be resold and there was no loss to the company.”

Ali has a previous caution for shoplifting in March of last year, and Akhtar has two previous convictions for shoplifting in October and December of last year.

Akhtar previously stole £1,000 worth of Apple products from a store in Sheffield and was handed a 12 month conditional discharge.

In mitigation defence lawyer Mr Nnamdi Inegbo said: “The CCTV is quite damning which is all I can really say."

“Miss Akhtar relocated to Sheffield which is where one of the other offences took place, but she has had to move back to Manchester.

“She accepts what she has done and that she needs to work with probation.”

Akhtar was ordered to complete a 12 month community order and 150 hours unpaid work whilst Ali - who claimed she carried out the offence due to “peer pressure” - was conditionally discharged for 12 months.

Both were each ordered to pay £105 in court costs and surcharges.