A Wakefield woman who was “off her nut” cruised round in a stolen car and used someone else’s bank card to buy alcohol and cigarettes.
The stolen Kia Sportage was taken during a burglary in Orchard Close in the early hours of July 12 last year, and Sarah Hedley was seen on CCTV getting out of the car and using the bank card at a garage to buy cigarettes and alcohol.
Leeds Crown Court heard on Thursday, January 2 that she was the passenger in the vehicle that was later found at her home. Hedley, 41, of Sunroyd Avenue, said she had been told by her then-boyfriend that the car belonged to a relative.
Prosecutor Zanisha Herbert, said: “The defendant was arrested after officers saw CCTV and realised they had seen her earlier that day. They went back to the area and saw the vehicle in the car park and arrested her from her home. A search was conducted and the vehicle keys and bank cards were recovered.
“She was interviewed and did provide a mostly ‘no comment’ interview but stated she wasn’t guilty and didn’t believe the vehicle was stolen.”
Hedley went on to admit fraud and taking a vehicle without consent.
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A Probation Service worker told the court: “Her account for the taking without consent was that she was a passenger and had no part in driving and couldn’t even drive. The keys were found at her house because he [her co-accused] resided there.
“She admits using the stolen bank card to the value of £88 in the garage but said she didn’t know it was stolen. I said it would have been in someone else’s name and she said, ‘I was so off my nut’ that she had no recollection of looking at the card…She is clearly a complex woman with a number of problems.
“She has been in an abusive relationship and is in one currently with a neighbour. She has numerous mental health problems and is medicated.”
Mitigating, Samreen Ahktar, said there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” for Hedley, who was the subject of a community order at the time of the offending.
His Honour Judge Mansell KC made Hedley the subject of an 18-month community order, during which she has to undertake 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
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