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A MOTHER stole more than £23,000 from her childhood friend after taking her bank documents and driving licence, a court heard.

Kathryn Pomeroy used the money she stole from her friend of 23 years to pay off debts.

Southampton Crown Court heard that the mum-of-two, of Victoria Road, Southampton, withdrew a total of £23,243.75 from her friend Marianne Neville's savings account.

Pomeroy, 28, pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and asked for a further eight fraud offences to be taken into consideration.

Sarah Dineley, prosecuting, said: "Last July this defendant was experiencing problems with her boiler.

"She asked for a set of keys so she and her children could shower at Miss Neville's house.

"This gave her freedom of the house when Miss Neville was not there and on one occasion she took her bank pass book and driving licence."

Miss Dineley told the court that Pomeroy had already borrowed £7,000 from Miss Neville to help clear her debts.

Pomeroy, a self-employed nail technician who also works in a pub, used the bank book - backed up by the driving licence as identification - to withdraw money from Miss Neville's ISA savings account on 15 separate occasions over a three-month period.

Miss Neville discovered the theft when she went to withdraw money and saw her balance was thousands of pounds lower than it should have been.

An investigation found that cheques had been paid to Pomeroy.

She used the money to pay estate agent fees, a deposit on a house, to buy a cooker, to pay to tax and service her car and to pay off £5,000 she owed her former partner.

The court heard she also went on holiday to Tenerife with a friend in January, but she denied using the stolen money to fund the trip.

She was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 240 hours' community service and is subject of a 12-month supervision order.

Judge John Boggis QC said: "This was utterly despicable. It is absolutely appalling that you should abuse the friendship of Miss Neville"

6:47am Saturday 19th July 2008

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