Former first minister’s sister sells house to repay stolen cash

The sister of former first minister Jack McConnell has sold her Whiting Bay house as she attempts to pay back thousands of pounds she stole from a disabled pensioner.

On Tuesday, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court was told that Anne McConnell, 51, who stole £9,000 from the bank account of an 80-year-old severe arthritis sufferer, had sold her three-bedroom home for £95,000.

McConnell, who now lives in Kilmarnock and is the younger sibling of Labour peer Jack, got hold of the Arran pensioner’s bank card and PIN number and emptied her savings account between February and August 2015.

McConnell is facing jail for the offence and was told to raise the money she stole before being sentenced.

Defence solicitor Gordon Ghee said: ‘An offer has been received on the property.

‘The proposed date of entry is September 9, the sale price is £95,000.’

After hearing that the £9,000 McConnell stole will be taken out of the £95,000, Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane adjourned the case for the sale to be finalised.

As she did so, she said: ‘I hope by then the funds have been transferred and I’ll deal with this.

‘We are getting there slowly but surely.

‘I hope to put matters to bed.’

McConnell is expected to learn her fate next month.

McConnell’s theft came to light when she went off on sick leave and the pensioner noticed the money was gone.

Her new carer contacted the police, leading to McConnell being detained and questioned. McConnell told officers she’d stolen the money because she was going through the menopause and needed it to pay her mortgage.

And she said she hoped her big brother would help pay back the money, which was reduced to £9,000 from £17,900 after striking a deal with prosecutors.

But Jack McConnell, who was first minister of Scotland between 2001 and 2007, refused to help his sister, meaning she had to sell the house and a host of household items, including a horsebox, to raise the money she stole.