OAP gets fleeced by her cleaner Thief caught on security camera

A callous cleaner was caught red-handed on video stealing £100 from a 91-yearold Scone woman’s handbag.

The security camera was set up after the nonagenarian’s daughter became concerned that cash she had given her mother had been spent quicker than normal.

As a result, 21-year-old Izle Torialas, of Davie Park Place, Rattray, was seen taking the money from the vulnerable OAP’s purse and placing it in her handbag.

Depute fiscal Robbie Brown said the accused was “immediately dismissed” from her employment.

A “distinctive watch” the accused had been wearing had helped to identify Torialas as the culprit.

The accused, a first offender, was spared a jail sentence when she appeared at Perth Sheriff Court this week.

Instead, she was ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work within the next six months but told by Sheriff Lindsay Foulis it was a “direct alternative” to prison.

She admitted stealing the money while in the course of her employment from the elderly woman’s home on February 11 this year.

The charge indicated that the incident was “aggravated by prejudice relating to disability” suffered by the victim.

Sheriff Foulis told the accused: “Your agent describes this offence as inexcusable - and that’s absolutely correct.

“The complainer was vulnerable by reference to her age alone, never mind her medical conditions.

“And to take advantage of someone that age is rightly described as inexcusable.”

Torialas will also be put on a register banning her from working in future with vulnerable people.

Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said her client had been experiencing money problems and described it as “an opportunistic theft.”

The cash had subsequently been repaid although she had “no vouching” for that.

She had lost her job as a result but was now working as a kitchen porter on a zero hours contract, earning between £140-£190 a week.

“She regrets her behaviour and clearly will not be able to find any work with vulnerable individuals.”