A woman addicted to gambling who stole from a neighbor narrowly avoided prison time.
Jewelry Thief Receives Suspended Prison Sentence
The criminal case involves a 59-year-old woman from South Gate in Hartlepool, UK, identified with the initials J.W. The woman was asked by one of her neighbors to feed their cat. However, once inside the neighbor’s home, the 59-year-old woman took cash from a money box that included several £10 and £20 bills. What’s more, the woman stole jewelry.
As announced by Teesside Live, it didn’t take long for the unlawful actions to be uncovered once the woman’s neighbor came back. Shocked, the neighbor found out that her late husband’s wedding ring and jewelry belonging to herself went missing, along with the cash.
The unpleasantly surprised neighbor asked the 59-year-old woman about the missing items. This is when the woman, addicted to gambling, started to cry and admitted to her actions. The gambling addict said that she took the jewelry to a pawn shop.
After the crime was uncovered, authorities were involved. With the help of law enforcement, the stolen jewelry was returned to the victim. However, in light of the theft, J.W.’s case went to court. Reportedly, the 59-year-old woman pleaded guilty to burglary.
Although she could have landed in jail, the judge assigned to the case had different plans. According to Judge Aisha Wadoodi, there’s work that can be done with the woman addicted to gambling, which is why she wasn’t sent to prison. Instead of sending the 59-year-old to prison, the judge sentenced her to nine months prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
At the same time, the woman was ordered to compensate the victim with £500, paid through installments of £40 per month. Additionally, the woman will have to go through 25 rehabilitation days.
Gambling Addiction Pushes People Into Different Crimes
It is not uncommon for people affected by problem gambling to engage in unlawful actions. Only recently, a former bank cashier avoided prison after the theft of £30,000. The Aberdeen, Scotland resident suffered from a crippling gambling addiction that pushed him into stealing from his employer.
However, an investigation uncovered missing funds and ultimately helped identify the 40-year-old man responsible for the crime. Similar to the aforementioned case, the man avoided prison but was sentenced to three years of supervision along with 300 hours of unpaid work.
