TICKET WASH LOTTO GRAN ‘STOLE XBOX AND 73-YEAR-0LD’S CASH’
A GRANDMOTHER who hit the headlines after lodging a failed claim for a £33million Lotto prize stole an Xbox controller belonging to a man she met through a dating app, a court has heard.
Susanne Hinte, 48, also swiped a purse from the home of a 73-year-old woman who helped to find her other alleged victim’s home, magistrates in Birmingham were told.
Hinte, from Worcester, whose ticket for a recordbreaking Lotto draw in January was said to have been damaged in a washing machine, denies committing two counts of theft on January 3 and 4 last year after driving to Birmingham.
Opening the case against Hinte, prosecutor Muhammad Awan alleged that she stole a purse containing debit and credit cards, as well as £55 in cash from the elderly woman.
Mr Awan said Hinte called at pensioner Susan Kirby’s bungalow in a Birmingham suburb on the evening of January 3.
“She explained that she was lost and that she was trying to get to a male friend’s address,” said Mr Awan.
“The defendant explained to Mrs Kirby that her mobile phone battery had died.”
The court heard that the homeowner’s phone charger failed to fit Hinte’s mobile, and she placed her Sim card into the pensioner’s handset to make contact with “blind date” Glen Gregory.
Mr Awan added: “By this stage the complainant has invited the defendant into her property.
“Whilst in the kitchen the woman then speaks to Mr Gregory – the second complainant – in order to get his full address.”
After Mrs Kirby had obtained an address for Mr Gregory, written it down and handed it to Hinte, she is alleged to have hugged and kissed the pensioner in apparent gratitude.
Hinte then left the woman’s home, Mr Awan added, and the victim noticed that her purse was missing from a kitchen work surface and rang the police.
Mr Awan said: “It is said that Mr Gregory and the defendant had met through a dating app.
“Some time later that evening, the defendant arrives at Mr Gregory’s address.
“It’s said that whilst she is there she starts to ask questions about an Xbox which is in Mr Gregory’s address.
“She asks if she can buy it from him. He told her she couldn’t, she then stays the night and leaves the following morning.”
Hinte accepted being at both addresses but denied stealing anything from either property.
Her trial was adjourned until April 13.