Sneak thief pays the price for stealing by making pom-poms

A serial thief who targeted charities and stole from parked cars has been making pom- poms at home as part of her punishment.

Angela Nash, 35, embarked on a crime spree across Renfrewshire where she stole from charity shops, cars and high street stores in a series of thefts over two years.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard Nash was handed a Community Payback Order (CPO) comprised of unpaid work and mandatory supervision after she pleaded guilty to stealing items between September 2017 and October last year.

The sentence features her making batches of the pompoms as part of her unpaid work for the benefit of the community.

However, she appeared before Sheriff Lindsey Kooner where she was accused of breaching her CPO by missing appointments and changing her phone number without telling her supervisor.

Defence agent Charlie McCusker revealed background reports left his client looking in a bad light, but he urged the court to allowed her to continue on the order so she could prove she can toe the line.

He added that Nash, of Renfrew, was the subject of “conflicting reports” by her supervisors where one was “fairly positive” and the other “has her breaching the order by failing to respond”.

He said: “She was surprised when told she was not doing any unpaid work. She was instructed to make pom-poms at home, and she has a batch of these done.

“She makes them in batches and they are uplifted. She said she has been doing the unpaid work.”

He said Nash, who struggled with “drug issues”, had also suffered the recent loss of a family member, and she had forgot to inform social workers that she changed her number.

Nash fraudulently obtained £20.19 of beauty products from

Boots at Braehead, on September 21, 2017, by pretending to be the owner of a loyalty card.

She admitted stealing clothes and a mobile phone from the Salvation Army Store, High Street, Renfrew, on June 27, 2018.

She also admitted stealing health supplements and food items from Holland and Barrett, clothes from the Debra charity shop and a hat from Sports Direct – all in Paisley on March 6 last year.

She also pleaded guilty to stealing a mobile phone and a sum of cash from a room at The Holiday Inn, Glasgow Airport, on March 31 last year.

And she admitted stealing aftershave and a tyre inflator from a car on Kenley Way, Renfrew, on October 5, last year, as well as stealing clothing and an iPod from another car, at Andrew Avenue, Renfrew.

Cops found her with heroin on September 27 last year while at Helen Street police office in Govan.

Sheriff Kooner continued the case for eight weeks, telling her: “There does appear to be discrepancies, but I will give you the opportunity to correct any errors that have occurred.

“If you change your phone number, let everyone know.”

Nash will appear for a review of her conduct on June 15.

I will give you the opportunity to correct any errors that have occurred