A 38-YEAR-OLD woman who formed a fraudulent scheme to obtain £3,000 from a vulnerable woman has avoided a prison sentence at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Janet Hay also pleaded guilty to being in breach of antisocial behaviour orders by being in the company of two vulnerable men at their homes in Peebles and Galashiels, when she was banned from having any contact with them.
READ MORE: Man defecated and urinated inside police van
The court heard that between January 22, 2024, and February 15, 2024, at her former home in Gala Park, Galashiels, and at the local branch of the Bank of Scotland, Hay took possession of a cheque book belonging to the vulnerable woman without her consent and completed and signed cheques.
She then presented them for payment to a bank account under control and obtained £3,000 by fraud. Hay was also found in attendance at the homes of the two vulnerable men on March 18 last year and February 3 this year when there were ASBOs in place preventing her from doing so.
She was also charged with a charge of extortion by putting one of the men in a state of fear and alarm on January 20 this year by threatening to report him to the police for allegations of sexual offending if he did not pay her £80.
But the Crown accepted a plea of not guilty to that charge.
Hay, of Crown Close, Hawick, was given a 12-month community payback order with supervision as an alternative to custody and ordered to stay away from the addresses of her victims.
She was also told to pay £500 compensation to the woman she defrauded. Sheriff Paterson warned her that any breaches of the conditions imposed would result in her being jailed.
