SHE was a real treasure to the disabled woman.
The teenage girl was a regular visitor to the Holmfirth woman’s home, helping with chores including cooking, cleaning and walking her dog.
But yesterday, a court heard how the youngster stole from the woman who had grown to trust her.
The 16-year-old stole the money when the 54-year-old woman became housebound due to a broken ankle.
The GCSE student was asked to take her bank card and withdraw cash for her. However she kept the £130 for herself and lied to police that someone else must have been responsible.
Yesterday Huddersfield Youth Court sitting at Dewsbury heard how the teenager changed her story several times to fit in with the evidence.
She also tried to paint a the woman as a “drunkard” who had been confused when she visited her before the money disappeared from her account.
Magistrates heard that the woman lived on her own and was “vulnerable” as she was registered disabled after suffering from arthritis, glaucoma and depression.
Mark Haigh, prosecuting, said that on May 19 the teenager attended the woman's home as she frequently did to run errands for her.
He said that she asked the teenager to withdraw some money for her and trusted her to go by herself to the cashpoint at Morrisons as she had broken her ankle.
But the teenager didn’t return and when the woman’s friend came round at 10.30pm he noticed her bank card behind the front door as if it had been pushed through the letterbox.
There was no money with the card and the woman checked her account immediately which revealed that at 8.20pm £100 had been withdrawn followed by £30 just a minute later.
The girl first claimed that she only checked the woman’s bank account balance for her.
She then said that the woman had been with her at the supermarket when she took the cash out.
She changed her story again to claim that she did withdraw money but posted this with the card through the letterbox.
The victim told magistrates that she had known the girl for five years and considered her a friend.
The teenager denied taking the money and keeping it for herself. She described the woman as a “severe alcoholic” who had been drinking heavily when she visited her.
She told magistrates: “She couldn’t stand up, she was a bit deluded because when she was talking to me she didn’t make any sense.
“She said she wanted something from the shop and gave me her bank card. She didn’t say how much she wanted so I took out £130 because I looked at her bills and noticed she hadn’t paid them.”
She admitted lying to police because she was “scared”. She said: “I was shocked thinking how could one of my best friends treat me as a thief?”
Magistrates rejected her claim that she did not take the money, however they expressed their concerns that the woman had given the teen unrestricted access to her account.
They gave the girl a nine months supervision order and told her to pay £205 compensation. The teen’s mother was also issued with a parenting order for six months.
