14/07/2015
A live-in carer who stole from her vulnerable client in Pathead about £3900 was ordered by the Edinburgh Sheriff Court to pay back the amount she used.
27-year-old Hamilton-based Stephanie Bittles admitted she used the bank information of her client, an old and vulnerable woman, to procure a credit card for herself and pay for pizzas, new clothes, and even her own debts. Her fraudulent scheme was foiled when the client’s bank noticed suspicious-looking transactions on the old woman’s bank statements.Bittles even tried to procure an additional £1255.34 before her activities were uncovered.
Sometime between April 1st of 2013 and September 21st of the same year, Bittles made fraudulent claims with her client’s bank (Tesco Bank) that she was her client and was able to secure a credit card for herself. Bittles was granted access to her client’s card for the purpose of only buying food as well as other essentials for the old woman.
The court ordered Bittles to pay the amount she misappropriated and imposed upon her a sentence of one-year community service requiring her to finish 60 hours of unpaid labour in a six-month period.
Bittles said she was struggling to settle various debts, including some from her days as a student, and having difficulties with some failed relationships.
Jennifer Cameron, defence agent, told the court that Bittles said she was sorry for her actions.
Cameron said: “Matters got to the point where she was unable to sleep. She shouldn’t have allowed her problems to become someone else’s problems, particularly given the circumstances at the time.”
