Former First Minister’s sister to sell home to pay back £9,000 she stole from a frail OAP
JACK McConnell’s sister is having to sell her home to pay back £9,000 she stole from a pensioner.
And a court heard yesterday how the former First Minister refused to help her repay the money.
Anne McConnell is facing up to a year in jail for stealing the cash from the 80-year- old, who suffers from severe arthritis.
In a crime her own solicitor called ‘despicable’, McConnell took the money while employed as the pensioner’s carer on Arran.
The 51-year-old, of Whiting Bay on the island, managed to get hold of Janet Noteman’s bank card and PIN before going on sick leave and cleaning out her savings account.
When the pensioner noticed the money was gone, her new carer contacted the police, leading to
‘I meant I would ask if he’d help out’
McConnell being detained for questioning. She told officers she had stolen the money because she was going through the menopause and needed it to pay off arrears on her mortgage.
She also said she hoped her Labour peer brother, who was First Minister between 2001 and 2007, would foot the bill.
But Lord McConnell refused to help and she is now having to sell her home to pay back the money, the court was told.
The details emerged yesterday when she appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court to be sentenced.
McConnell, who plans to move to the mainland, had earlier pleaded guilty to stealing the money between February and August last year.
Sentence had been deferred for her to be assessed by social workers.
When she returned to the dock yesterday, defence solicitor Peter Lockhart said she had ‘ scrimped and saved’ to pay back £1,650 of the £9,000 – and insisted the pensioner had not been left out of pocket.
When asked by a clearly angry Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane when the ‘old lady is going to get her life savings back’, Mr Lockhart replied: ‘ The bank made full repayment on August 19. The loss is to the bank.’
He told the court that Lord McConnell and other family members had refused to help her and that she was having to sell her home as a result.
Mr Lockhart said: ‘In her police interview, the police officer said to her that she had made a comment that she would get the money back from her brother.
‘She said, “I just meant I would ask if he’d help out to get the money back”.
‘He asked, “Have you spoken to Jack in relation to this?”. ‘She replied, “No, not yet”. ‘As far as the family are concerned, they are supportive but they are not in a position, nor are they prepared, to pay this money. At the end of the day it is for the accused to pay it and that’s their position.
‘She intends to put her property on the market. That will l eave capital of between £13,000 and £15,000 once loans, fees etc are paid. She should be able to pay the balance of £7,000 etc within three months, by the end of May.
‘She accepts this is a despicable offence. The social work report details she is racked with guilt. She accepts nothing in mitigation can be said about this offence. She was in a position of trust.’
McConnell, who has health problems and had suffered a number of tragedies in her life, planned to move her 15-yearold daughter to a mainland school, the court heard.
Mr Lockhart said it ‘beggars belief’ that she stole the money as she is a ‘caring individual’.
He asked Sheriff McFarlane to spare jobless McConnell jail, saying locking her up would have an adverse affect on her daughter, who also has health problems.
He said she was willing and able to comply with a Community Payback Order, which would see her carry out unpaid work.
As she deferred sentence for a further three months, Sheriff McFarlane said: ‘I want it repaid in full to the bank or whoever by the time I see you in three months. Is that clear?’
McConnell, who had fidgeted with her hands and looked nervously around the room as she waited to learn her fate, replied: ‘Yes.’
Her home is believed to be worth around £100,000 based on recent sales figures for her street, where the average house price is £150,000.
She will return to court at the end of May to ascertain if she has paid back the money.
‘She was in a position of trust’