By Eric King-
A fraudulent care worker escaped jail after using bank cards stolen from two elderly residents to buy shopping.
Leeds Crown Court heard Charlotte Armour’s first victim at the Grove Park Care Home in Leeds was an 87-year-old pensioner suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
Armour’s fraudulent act was discovered when the victim’s daughter visited her mother’s flat to collect her mail on January 30th. She discovered a letter from NatWest reporting suspicious behaviour on her mother’s account between January 24 to 28. After reporting this to police, it was discovered that £180.09 had been spent on the card at supermarkets in the Meanwood area.
Armour was eventually identified from CCTV footage, and confessed to the theft after she was arrested on February 10th. She escaped with a police caution because she had never been in trouble before . The caution was on the condition Ms Armour repaid the money. However, Charlotte Armour failed to repay the money, and charges were brought against her when it was discovered she had also stolen from another 84 year old resident who has since died.
The 84 year old’s son was first to discover the fraud after being alerted on February 13 about suspicious transactions. Her TSB card was also missing, raising alarm bells. It emerged that Charlotte Armour had made transactions totalling £495.53 , including contactless payments at shops, a visit to the Hedley Verity pub in Leeds city centre, and online purchases from Just Eat and JD Sports.
Charlotte Armour told police the reason for the theft was in financial difficulties. Charlotte Armour owed rent, council tax and utilities, and also had a county court judgment against her. Armour’s father eventually helped pay off some of her debts . 20 year old Armour from Meanwood, admitted two charges of theft and two of fraud by false representation. She was given 18 months suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work for the community. That sentence was too light for her offence despite her previous clean record.
Judge Penelope Belcher said this to her:
“These are mean and nasty offences. “You were using these cards for your own benefit at the expense of two elderly and vulnerable ladies. I have heard that you are ashamed, so you should be. This is despicable and disgusting behaviour”. Belcher said she had just been persuaded to suspend the inevitable prison sentence after hearing she was taking steps to address the “underlying issues.”
That’s just so poor! A judge altering the correct sentence because of what the defendant’s lawyer said. The credibility of judges these days are increasingly needing scrutiny, as they appear to exercise too much discretion in the face of obvious statutory guidelines of how they should judge a case. Charlotte Armour defrauded two individuals, but was given a suspended sentence for what obviously called for a custodial sentence. This judge admits changing what would normally be a sentence on the grounds of the criminal taking steps to address a crime she has already committed. That was wrong.