A teenager who stole £9,000 from an 89-year-old woman by forging a cheque has been told she could still face a term in prison.

Kerry Haddow, 18, formerly of Hudson Road in Eastwood, pleaded guilty to deception and fraud at Southend Magistrates' Court.

Although all the money was eventually recovered from Haddow, stipendiary magistrate Ken Sheraton insisted his powers of sentencing would not be sufficient.

The court heard Haddow was a carer at a residential home in Southend when she befriended the woman, before taking her chequebook on December 21.

Prosecuting, Mark Lakin said the victim's daughter had become aware of what happened.

He said: "The defendant wrote herself a cheque out for £9,000, which she then signed in the victim's name, and then credited her bank account.

"An additional unpleasant angle was that when the victim's daughter became aware of it her mother initially lied on behalf of the defendant, because she had approached her to tell her not to get her into trouble."

Mr Lakin added the elderly woman then gave a true account of what had happened when police became involved, although Haddow initially indicated the cheque had been a gift from the woman.

In Haddow's defence, Peter Sheldon said £6,000 of the money had been used to set up home, which was the motivation for the crime.

He said: "When things started to go badly, she cancelled all the orders for the goods to be delivered and got a refund of £6,000, which she repaid, so there is no unrecovered money.

"You have before you an 18-year-old with no previous convictions, who has at least ensured the aggrieved has not lost at all."

But Mr Sheraton said Haddow, who now lives with her parents in Cumbria, had breached the trust of her employers, and ordered her to be sentenced at Southend Crown Court at a date to be notified.

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