48th time in court for Plymouth addict guilty of fraud

A STONEHOUSE woman who has appeared in court 48 times admitted using bank cards of an elderly couple which had been stolen during a burglary.

Kelly Henderson, of Cecil Street, had denied the burglary at Adelaide Street on April 22 where crooks had entered the home of an 89-year-old blind man and his 86-year-old wife as they slept.

However, she had pleaded guilty at Plymouth Crown Court to four counts of fraud and one count of theft by finding in connection with the incident.

The court heard how Henderson had somehow acquired the Lloyds TSB bank card taken from the elderly couple's home. She was then caught on CCTV taking money from a number of different cash point machines in the city centre on the same day as the burglary.

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In all she and her co-defendant Thomas Hodge, took out £1,001.85p.

The court heard how the pair were identified by police and found at their home, with Henderson hiding in the divan bed.

She denied burgling the property and subsequently pleaded guilty to theft by finding.

At a previous hearing, Hodge, aged 36, of St Mary's Street in Stonehouse, was jailed for 12 months.

Judge Graham Cottle noted how Henderson, aged 31, had appeared in court 47 times, with this latest offence being her 48th appearance, for which she had already spent five months on remand.

He noted she was a "long term" heroin and valium addict with a history of acquisitive crime offences to her name.

He also recognised she had been handed a variety of orders and sentences, noting "they don't work – well, they haven't so far anyway".

Sentencing her, he said: "Everything has been tried with you at one time or another... nothing has so far worked.

"You can't complain if you were sentenced to imprisonment immediately. However, it is much more constructive use of the courts powers to try yet again to provide you with some assistance to overcome your drug addiction."

He ordered Henderson to be subject to a community order for two years, with a 12 month supervision order and a six month drug rehabilitation requirement.

He added that she would be subject to monthly reviews "conducted by me".

He warned Henderson: "If they're good, we will continue. If they're not, you will be imprisoned and the five months spend on remand will not count."