Stolen vouchers used

For $100 and a ride to Nelson, a Blenheim woman scored $600 worth of supermarket vouchers, stolen from a sports club.

A Blenheim woman who bought supermarket vouchers stolen from a sports club says she thought her friend got them from Work and Income.

Hannah Fyfe, 22, spent the Pak ’n Save vouchers on gift cards, which she later spent at The Warehouse on July 30.

The vouchers were taken in a burglary at the Marlborough Football office in Blenheim the weekend before.

Fyfe was approached by a friend who said he would give her six vouchers worth $100 each, in exchange for $100 cash and a ride to Nelson, a police summary said.

Before they left, Fyfe went to Pak ’n Save in Blenheim and used one voucher to buy two $50 gift cards.

She then drove her friend to Nelson and went to Pak ’n Save Richmond, where she used the other vouchers to buy gift cards for The Warehouse.

Fyfe got back in her car, and discovered three extra Pak ’n Save vouchers that her friend appeared to have dropped.

She went back to the Richmond supermarket and bought some more gift cards for The Warehouse, worth $240 in total.

Fyfe drove back to Blenheim and spent the gift cards at The Warehouse in Blenheim that evening. The gift cards were worth $840 altogether.

Police stopped Fyfe as she was driving on Grove Rd in Blenheim the next day and asked her about the Pak ’n Save vouchers.

Fyfe said her friend said he got them from Work and Income.

She was charged with three counts of using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage, and one of receiving stolen goods.

She was also charged with possession of a bong and a gram of cannabis.

Fyfe admitted the charges relating to the vouchers at the Blenheim District Court last week, but did not enter pleas on the cannabis charges. She was convicted and remanded on bail to September 18 so her house could be assessed for an electronically-monitored sentence.

A 25-year-old Blenheim man has been charged with the burglary.