Southport Visiter

Cash thief carer back in court on new charge

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ACLEANER who repeatedly stole cash from a 90-yearold woman has seen her sentence increased.

Heather Hannah was prosecuted in February for stealing £20 from the vulnerable client for whom she cleaned and did grocery shopping.

Liverpool Magistrate­s Court handed Hannah, of Queens Road in Southport, a one-year community order with mental health treatment requiremen­t of six months as well as a 20-week 7pm-7am curfew.

But she was brought before South Sefton Magistrate­s Court last week under a new charge of stealing a further £120 from the same victim.

The money covered by the new charge was stolen in the weeks before the theft which she had already admitted but was only brought to court afterwards.

Prosecutin­g, Olivia Brady explained that the money was stolen over four weeks in amounts of either £40 or £20.

She said the victim initially questioned whether she had lost the cash as she couldn’t bring herself to believe that Hannah had stolen from her.

The 55-year-old was eventually caught out when the victim informed her sons, a police officer and soldier, who set up CCTV and noted the serial numbers of the cash in her bag.

The theft happened during the pandemic, when Hannah was the only person who would visit the victim’s flat.

Hannah’s defence counsel said that her duties had extended over the years from cleaning to shopping and “into the brackets of a carer” while at the same time her pay did not go up and she began to feel used.

“What she should have done was simply walk away or ask for an increase in her wage.

“What she did, and she knows this was unforgivab­le, she took a chance from time to time to take money from this lady’s purse.”

Hannah, who admitted four counts of theft by employee, was ordered to take part in a further 10 rehabilita­tion activity days to address mental health problems and carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

She was also ordered to pay compensati­on of £120, costs of £85 and a £95 victim surcharge.”

The magistrate­s warned her that if wasn’t for the good progress made since her last sentencing then they would have taken different action.

 ??  ?? ● Heather Hannah stole cash from a 90-year-old woman
● Heather Hannah stole cash from a 90-year-old woman

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