Shropshire woman jailed for stealing almost £9,000 from elderly neighbour
A Shropshire woman who stole almost £9,000 using the bank card of her frail and vulnerable neighbour has been jailed for six months.
Helen Smith, of Church Street, Bishop's Castle, had initially offered support to the 77-year-old victim after his wife passed away three years ago.
But 49-year-old Smith, who was heavily in debt, began to help herself to pensioner Alistair Fowlie's money.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday Judge Peter Barrie told Smith: "It is as clear an illustration of a high degree of a breach of trust as one could find."
He said it was a very sad story in which Smith had yielded to temptation having been entrusted with Mr Fowlie's bank card and PIN number.
Judge Barrie said there were repeated transactions for over a year and the breaches of trust were so frequent and involved such a vulnerable victim, he could only impose a sentence of immediate custody.
Smith broke down in tears as she was sentenced, having earlier admitted a charge of theft.
Mr David Swinnerton, prosecuting, said that Mr Fowlie was too poorly to attend court and police inquiries now revealed that some monies, including up to £3,000 used as a deposit on a Land Rover Discovery, had been authorised by the victim. However, there were numerous other transactions over a 13-month period.
Mr Andrew Holland, for Smith, said his client wanted to apologise to Mr Fowlie for her "impaired judgement".
