Police officer who stole £6,000 from her mother's partner is jailed after failing to carry out community service

She sounds psychopathic

A police officer who stole £6,000 from her mother's partner as part of a credit card fraud has been jailed for failing to carry out her community service.

Natalie Scott, who served as a PC with Cumbria Constabulary, was sentenced to seven weeks in prison after admitting she didn't carry out the unpaid work she had been ordered to do.

The 37-year-old, from Barrow, sobbed as she was handcuffed and taken to the cells by security after the sentence was passed down at Furness Magistrates' Court.

In August of this year, Scott pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation after pocketing a credit card belonging to her mother's partner, Christopher McKeilor, while visiting their home while in uniform and on duty.

The court heard how she tried to use the card to pay for a £6,000 trip for four to Dubai, but the transaction did not go through.

She later used the card at Manchester Airport and settled the bill for the 10-day holiday.

The victim then received a phone call from his bank, explaining there had been a transaction which took his card over the limit.

Scott was arrested two days after she returned from the holiday.

In mitigation, the court heard the crimes came 'out of desperation' and were a 'spur-of-the-moment stupid decision'.

She was handed a suspended sentence of eight weeks, ordered to repay the money and to perform 200 hours of unpaid work - as well as losing her job with the Cumbria force after 12 years.

Yesterday, Brian Carruthers of Cumbria Probation Trust told the court that Scott had completed just 38 hours of unpaid work and had failed to attend a scheduled appointment as instructed on October 22.

Sean Harkin, defending, said Scott had struggled to carry out the community service after starting a new full-time job with internet company UK Domains in Ulverston, Cumbria.

Mr Harkin said: 'She's keen to impress her new employer by working as much as she possibly can and afterwards she has phoned her probation officer to explain why she has been unable to attend.'

He added that Scott intended to work the remaining hours once she had been employed long enough to earn annual leave and added that she is the sole carer for her six-year-old son.

Chris Harris, the presiding magistrate, handed Scott a seven week prison sentence, telling her that her time in custody had been reduced to take into account the hours she had already worked.

Mr Harris said: 'You will gather from the amount of time we have been out that we have talked at length about whether to activate your sentence.

'We saw in you, frankly, quite a lack of remorse. There was an attitude of "when I accrue some holidays I will be able to fit it in".

'It doesn't work like that, Miss Scott, and you know that.'

Original report here

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