Hello. I was caught shoplifting nearly £180's worth of items from Asda and have a date for a court hearing coming up. It says nothing on this Magistrates hearing about me needing to attend I will be pleading guilty since the evidence is overwhelmingly against me so a couple of questions. 1. Do I need to attend court? 2. What will the likely punishment be? I'm guessing a fine, but how much? Does anyone have a rough idea? Perhaps a community order with the fine? I've never been done for shoplifting before. I have also contacted a solicitor.