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SUSSEX - An unemployed Coles Island woman says she couldn't afford to pay for gas, so she helped steal some on three occasions.

Penny Colleen Stevens, 42, admitted that three times in March she drove her black Sunfire to Sussex area gas stations and waited in the car while her boyfriend pumped the gas. Then they sped off together without paying.

She pleaded guilty in Sussex provincial court Thursday, the day she was to stand trial, to stealing $65.75 in gas from the Four Corners Irving on March 10, another $58.05 in gas from the same Four Corners Irving on March 13, and $60.01 in gas from the Main Street Irving in Sussex on March 28.

Surveillance tapes taken at the scene revealed her identity, Crown prosecutor Patrick Wilbur told the court.

Stevens said she visited the Four Corner Irving to offer her apologies following the incidents. "They told me I could bring a resumé in," she told Judge Henrik Tonning. Stevens was ordered to pay restitution for half of the $183.81 in gas stolen. Because she is on income assistance, the victim fine surcharge was waived. She was also placed on probation for one year and was ordered to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

The second person charged in the same matters is Scott Burton Patterson of Knightville. The 28-year-old appeared in Sussex court on Thursday, also for trial, but was given more time to seek legal aid. He will reappear on Oct. 16 to set a new trial date. He has pleaded not guilty to the three gas thefts and also denies violating his probation in March.