Carer took OAP's cheque to buy puppy

A carer who stole a blank cheque from a Wolverhampton pensioner so she could buy an £800 puppy on the internet has been spared an immediate jail sentence.

Joanne Hammond, of Wednesfield, was instead given a six-month suspended prison term after admitting theft from a 66-year-old woman in sheltered accommodation. The 30-year-old scanned websites for a Dogue de Bordeaux, or French Mastiff, and answered an advert by a breeder in Luton who had a litter of pedigree puppies, Wolverhampton magistrates court heard yesterday.

Hammond went to his home to see them and agreed to buy a puppy called No Fear Freddy as soon as her cheque cleared.

But the missing money was discovered by the pensioner's son, who said his mother knew nothing about the withdrawal in October 2007 and alerted police.

Officers traced the cheque to unwitting breeder Kevin Booth who was arrested and brought up to Wednesfield for questioning.

He told police that Hammond, of Lower Prestwood Road, had used the pensioner's surname and asked for the dog's documents to be sent to an address in Walsall.

Mrs Maggie Meakin, prosecuting, said: "That address was the home of an 86-year-old lady who suffers from dementia and for whom Miss Hammond was also a carer. When she was interviewed by police she denied three times that she had stolen the cheque."

She told officers she never used her own name on the internet and that it was "coincidental" that it was the same as her victim, whom she claimed had given her the money to buy the dog.

She later pleaded guilty to stealing the blank cheque and to defrauding Mr Booth.

Officers took handwriting samples and seized her computer which led to her being charged with theft and fraud.

Mr David Bratt, defending, said Hammond was "both appalled and disgusted" at her behaviour.

Magistrates gave her six-month prison sentences for both offences to run concurrently and suspended them for six months. Hammond was ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and pay back £800 to HSBC bank, who reimbursed her victim, from her Jobseekers Allowance. She was put under supervision for two years.