Woman stole card and £800 from good Samaritan OAP

A woman who stole hundreds of pounds from a pensioner who was trying to help her overcome a drug addiction has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Julie Shields, 40 and from Washington, took advantage of a 71-year-old woman's kindness by stealing her bank card and making multiple withdrawals, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The victim said her trust in other people had been shattered and the crime had changed her life "drastically".

Shields, a mother of three with a "horrendous" history of convictions including dozens of dishonesty offences, was jailed for six months suspended for a year after admitting fraud by false representation.

Shields had recently been released from prison when she started a friendship with the older woman who lived near her in September, the court heard.

When the woman was driving Shields to a pharmacy to collect a methadone prescription, Shields stole her bank card from her purse and went on to withdraw at least £800, prosecutors said.

In a statement read to the court, the woman said Shields "took advantage" of her kindness and she had just been trying to help the drug addict.

The woman said she now struggled to sleep, wanted to move home and had suffered "significant anxiety" as a result of the "betrayal" of her trust.

Recorder Nathan Moxon said Shields, of Wellington Walk, had a "horrendous" record of 31 previous convictions for 96 offences and her latest crime was a "particularly unpleasant offence".

But he said suspending her prison sentence would allow her to work with the probation service to tackle the addiction issues at the heart of her offending, adding previous short periods in prison had not solved the problem.

A restraining order banning Shields from contacting the victim was also made to last for 10 years.

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