$3800 debt after deceit over power bills exposed

A woman used someone else’s personal details to pinch power for her own house, leaving behind debts of more than $3800, a Taranaki court was told.

Ayla Caroline Stewart’s offending spanned about six months and relied on a simple ploy to use her victim’s personal details to set up three different power accounts against which she never paid a cent.

The 25-year-old’s offending first began on July 15, 2017 when she called up Contact Energy to set up a power account at a Banks St address in New Plymouth, where she was living at the time.

To set up the account, she used the victim’s driver licence and kept the account for about three months, racking up a debt of $941.23.

Stewart never made any attempt to pay the account, the Ha¯ wera District Court was told.

The police summary of facts said that on November 1, 2017, the defendant, now living in Kauae St in Manaia, South Taranaki, rang

Trustpower to establish a power and internet service.

Again she used the victim’s details to set up the account, which was open until January 8, 2018. During that time, a debt of $1860.59 was incurred.

Two days later, and while still residing at the Manaia address, Stewart phoned Mercury to set up a power account. Again, she used another person’s name and date of birth to do so.

This deception lasted until April 3, 2018 and scored Stewart power worth $1055.

Following this, Stewart tried to set up a power account with Genesis at a South Rd, Ha¯ wera, property but was unsuccessful as she failed to answer simple questions put to her by the phone operator, who reported the encounter to a supervisor.

Yesterday, Stewart appeared in the Ha¯wera District Court and pleaded guilty to four charges: attempting to use a document for pecuniary advantage, obtains by deception (over $1000) and obtains by deception ($500-$1000).

She was remanded by Judge Lynne Harrison to reappear for sentencing on February 24.