£45k thief is spared prison

Huddersfield and District Army Veterans Association being inspected by Major Stephen Armitage at Huddersfield Bus Station before their trip to the National Memorial Arboretum who trusted her and gave her employment.”

The total value of the jewellery and cash which Lees stole had been put at £44,735 and none of it had been recovered.

Lees, whose drug addict daughter died last year, pleaded guilty to five charges of burglary and four of theft.

Mr Khan said another couple who had been told about Lees’ activities also caught her red-handed after putting money in a locked box and later finding that £25 was missing.

When they confronted her over the theft she told them:”When you have a daughter like mine you have to do it.”

The court heard that the eldest victim, a 78-year-old woman who lived in Greetland, thought she had some kind of memory problem because items were going missing.

In her victim impact statement she said family members thought she might have dementia and some of the jewellery which was stolen had been family heirlooms which she planned to hand down to children and grandchildren.

Barrister Charles Blatchford, for Lees who now cares for her late daughter’s child, said his client felt a great sense of shame and remorse. He said publicity about the case had led to her feeling embarrassment about what she had done and the harm she had caused.

Mr Blatchford stressed it was not a case involving any kind of lavish lifestyle and he confirmed that the stolen property went to Lees’ daughter to help her with her difficulties.

Judge David Hatton QC described the crimes as “despicable and mean” and he noted that they had involved planning and organisation.

“So far as it is possible to place a monetary value on the property stolen it was just a little shy of £45,000,” said the judge.

But many of the items were priceless and irreplaceable and of very considerable sentimental value.”

Judge Hatton said the offending thoroughly merited a significant and immediate prison sentence, but he had to balance that with the welfare of her granddaughter.

The judge said it was a “very fine balance” but he was prepared to suspend her two-year jail sentence for the next two years. Lees will have to do 220 hours of unpaid work for the community and she will have to comply with a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

She is also going face a further hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act later in the year which may result in some compensation for her victims. HUDDERSFIELD and District Army Veterans Association marked 120 years since it was founded with a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield in Staffordshire.

Forty members and the committee were on parade at Huddersfield Bus Station, inspected by Major Stephen Armitage.

They stopped off at the Royal British Legion Club in Alrewas, Staffordshire, on the way and then spent three hours walking around the Arboretum looking at the hundreds of memorials and many new ones. Many veterans had their own particular missions finding memorials to family members or to particular regiments.

The journey back took a scenic route via Ashbourne and Buxton to Ashton under Lyne Golf Club where they enjoyed a three-course dinner before returning to Huddersfield.