Woman pocketed cash donated for funeral
FURY AS 38-YEAR-OLD AVOIDS PRISON
A WOMAN who raised hundreds of pounds to put towards the funeral of her next door neighbour “should have been jailed” according to the victim’s daughter.
Kelly Hails felt the community order handed to 38-year-old Leanne Fox was too lenient after £590 raised disappeared without a trace.
Fox, of Larkspur in Gateshead, was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 50 hours’ unpaid work after she pleaded guilty to theft.
But Kelly, whose mum Margaret Graham died in January 2019, feels the court should have made an example of Fox for her crime.
Kelly said: “You would think somebody couldn’t stoop that low. People do wrong, I get that, but I never thought somebody would steal from the dead.
“Why would you do that? She is the epitome of evil. If I walked in and robbed a shop I would get more than a community order.
“They should have made an example of her. I don’t think it sets a good example. I would have liked to see a prison term.”
Fox approached Kelly after her mum’s death and said she would raise funds – but Kelly heard no more from her until she approached her seven months later.
Fox told her “people had been greedy” and only donated between £48 and £58 – when the real total was actually £590.
Kelly explained that Fox’s actions had left her feeling like nobody cared about her mum, who had been part of the community for 36 years.
She said: “We were called tramps for asking for money and I didn’t receive a penny. I was walking past these people for a year before I knew about it. People must have thought I was so rude, not saying thank you.
“My mam was so generous and so down-to-earth. Everybody loved little Margy, people were grieving when she died saying they felt like they had lost their own nanna or their mam. My mother had been a resident there for 36 years, she didn’t have a bad word to say about anybody and I was thinking nobody must have liked my mam. It really got to me.
“I don’t think you can have a heart to do this, you just can’t. I don’t hate her though – to hate her means she has some sort of control on my life.”
Mum-of-three Fox, who has two previous convictions as a youth, pleaded guilty to theft at Newcastle Crown Court. The court heard Fox is remorseful and a low risk of harm and further offending.