Leeds handbag thief bought KFC meals and scratchcards with stolen bank cards

Drug addict Sarah Ashman stole cash and bank cards from women's handbags in Leeds coffee shops, pubs and restaurants during a 13-month crime spree, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Ashman, 43, used the cards to make a string of fraudulent contactless payments for goods and services including scratch cards and KFC meals.

She also stole a charity box from fish and chip restaurant and took an 86-year-old woman’s handbag as the pensioner was putting shopping in her car outside the Co-op store on Adel Lane, Leeds.

Mother-of-three Ashman, of no fixed abode, admitted 18 charges of theft and nine fraud offences committed between March 2018 and April this year.

Jailing Ashman for 18 months, Judge Simon Phillips QC, told her: “You are a one person crime wave.”

Prosecutor, Laura Addy said Ashman stole cash and bank cards from a woman's handbag when her victim was in Caffe Nero on the Headrow in Leeds at around 2pm on March 27 2018.

Ashman took £60 cash from the bag and a bank card which she used to make contactless payments for items worth more than £230 including scratchcards

Ashman stole £60 and bank cards from a woman's handbag in the cafe at Leeds Art Gallery on the Headrow on April 7 2018.

Miss Addy said Ashman used the bank card to buy £30 worth of scratchcards in Morrisons in the Merrion Centre.

Ashman stole £90 and a bank card from a woman's bag when her victim was in the White Swan pub in Leeds on June 9 last year.

Miss Addy said the card was used for an £18.48 payment at KFC in Headingley and also at a a Co-op store.

Ashman also stole cash and bank cards from women's handbags in the Cuthbert and Broderick pub on Portland Crescent, Leeds; The Brownlee Arms, Horsforth; Toby Carvery, Horsforth; Seven Arts Bar on Harrogate Road; New Inn, Otley Road; Red Chilli in Leeds city centre; The Mustard Pot in Chapel Allerton; Caffee Latte on Otley Road, and the Fox and Hounds, Cookridge.

She used the stolen bank cards to buy items including more scratchcards and KFC meals.

The court heard on June 20 2018, Ashman stole a charity collection box containing around £20 from Murgatroyds fish and chip restaurant in Leeds.

And Ashman stole a 64-year-old woman's purse as she shopped at a Morrisons store in Leeds in April this year.

On June 1 Ashman stole an 86-year-old woman's handbag as the pensioner was putting shopping in her car outside the Co-op o Adel Lane, Leeds.

Ashman has 44 previous convictions for 118 offences, mainly for dishonesty.

Mitigating, Nick Hammond, said: "She is someone who admits she is a prolific thief."

Mr Hammond added: "She has had a very long standing addiction to Class A drugs."

Jailing Ashman for 18-months, Judge Phillips told her: "The misery, the upset, the inconvenience and the worry that you have caused to a large number of female complainants should not be underestimated.

"You have been preying on unsuspecting individuals and you have been preying on vulnerable individuals, including one 86-year-old."

Judge Phillips added: "You are a one person crime wave."