Hi,
I am a 50-year-old canadian citizen. I was caught shoplifting at Sears. I was very frustrated and nearly lost my mind.They searched my bag, the stolen items were 570$.There was also another stolen item from another store (woth 10$). The police arrived and charged me with theft under 5000 and possession of stolen property. I have no prior criminal records. I am supposed to go for fingerprints and a court date at the old city hall. My question is:

1. Sears sent me a mail asking for 500$ for civil damages, If I ignore Sears (because I have to appear in court anyway), how likely is it that they sue me for this?

2. Do I need to hire a lawyer even before disclosure? I wan told that I might get a diversion and anyway before disclosure nothing is sure.
3. I need to travel abroad in 3 months after my first court date,is it possible?

Please help me, I live with my daughter and husband and it is very difficult for me to pay for a lawyer. Can I manage without a lawyer?I do not want to have a criminal record.

You can't ignore Sears, if you do that will be another court date you will have to deal with. The fact that you had another stolen item from another store is not in your favour, on top of what you stole at Sears. It doesn't matter you are a Canadian citizen, I know you pointed that out, but it means nothing, you are charged the same as anyone else.

Suggest you hire a lawyer, but my question is why? Every time someone shoplifts, it drives prices up.

We can't help you except with advice, and my advice is get a lawyer.