Woman used 87-year-old's stolen savings to buy scooter
A woman who stole an 87-year-old's savings while she was in hospital used the money to buy a scooter, a court heard.
Elizabeth Needs had been ordered to pay back £1,200 pounds she had stolen from Bunty Farrand while the octogenarian was having her leg amputated.
Perth Sheriff Court was told that Needs had failed to pay back the stolen money and had bought the vehicle instead.
The case was deferred for the 61-year-old to seek legal advice.
Sheriff William Wood had ordered Needs to pay compensation in December 2014.
She was charged with stealing £2,800 from her former friend, but admitted taking £1,200 between February and March 2013 after the Crown accepted she had spent a large sum redecorating Miss Farrand's living room.
Needs befriended her victim while her father lived next door to Miss Farrand in Blairgowrie.
She told the court: "I forgot all about it. I just don't have the money because I have had to buy stuff for myself.
"I have also got a heart condition now. I have had to buy myself a scooter so I can get about more than what I am.
"Without a scooter I would have to stay indoors all the time. They are not cheap things to buy."
Sheriff Wood told Needs: "What about the money you took from your victim?
"Are you going to pay it? The alternative is prison."
She replied: "I might get better health in there. I can't get near my own doctor."