Community service for cleaner who dumped £4k in skip

Published 24 Mar 2010 11:08

A CLEANER who stole £6000 from a safe in her employer's home and then dumped £4000 of it in a rubbish tip has avoided a prison sentence.

On Thursday at Alloa Sheriff Court, Janet Blyth (52), from Fishcross, was ordered to complete 240 hours community service and to repay £1000 to the widow of her former employer.

In February Blyth pled guilty to opening a lockfast safe with a key between 18 December last year and 6 January this year, at an address in Dollar, and stealing £2000.

She also admitted stealing another £4000 and 390 Euros between 12 and 14 January this year from the safe at the house she worked in.

Sentencing had previously been deferred for background reports and after studying them, Sheriff David Mackie told Blyth, "There is no doubt this is a serious matter that merits a custodial sentence.

"I acknowledge you are now remorseful but it was a breach of trust to take the money from the widow of your employer."

Sheriff Mackie added that Blyth was receiving community service as a direct alternative to jail.

At the earlier hearing in February, Depute Fiscal Jim Graham told the court that the victim of the theft was an elderly lady who was suffering from the degenerative condition Parkinsons Disease.

Her husband, who was suffering from cancer, had died shortly before Christmas and, anticipating his own death, had withdrawn the £6000 from an account and placed it in the house safe so his wife could pay bills.

Blyth had worked for the family for several years as a part-time cleaner and had been given a set of keys for the house and also the code for the alarm.

Mr Graham added that the elderly victim employed a secretary who dealt with the day-to-day affairs and paid bills for her employer.

When the initial £2000 went missing, the secretary told her employer but the matter wasn't reported to the police at this point.

Check

When she checked the safe again several days later she noted that the remaining £4000 was still there, but she decided to contact the police to say that £2000 had been stolen.

When police attended the house it was discovered that the remaining £4000 and the 390 Euros had been stolen from the safe.

Police enquiries went on to suggest that Blyth and her husband were in financial difficulties with debts of £40,000.

Blyth agreed to her house, on Craigleith, being searched and officers found £300 in a bedroom drawer which she said her husband had saved for an exhaust for his car.

Admission

However, on being taken to the police station Blyth admitted to police she had taken the money.

When she heard the police had been called in, she placed the £4000 and the 390 Euros in a plastic bag and threw it into the household waste skip at Forthbank.

The money was recovered from the skip, which had to be brought back from Polmaise, and a further £620 in cash was found by police officers in Blyth's home.

Defence solicitor Alison McKay said that Blyth was extremely regretful about her actions having worked for the elderly woman for four years during which time she had a good working relationship with her and was a trusted employee - so much so that she had a key to the property and knew where the key to the safe was kept.

Ms McKay said that in the first incident Blyth had taken the safe key and, out of curiosity, had opened the safe, saw the £6000 in the envelope, removed £2000 and took it home with her leaving the remaining money in the safe.

Blyth spent approximately £1000 of this on general household expenditure, including shopping and petrol for the car, and Ms McKay went on to say that although Blyth and her husband were declared bankrupt in 2009 they didn't have the £40,000 of debt described by the Crown.

The defence solicitor said that on the second occasion the envelope with the remaining £4000 had been lying on the floor in the boxroom of the Dollar house and that Blyth picked it up and kept it in her car.

But when she discovered that the missing money had been reported to the police she panicked and dumped the remaining cash in the tip in Alloa.

Ms McKay added, "My client is a family woman who has been married for 26 years.

"Her family is close and they are all devastated by what has happened particularly because it was so out of character.

"She has lost the job she loved but realises it was down to her own stupidity."

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