Atherton woman targeted vulnerable men for thefts in Leigh

Amy Stewart, 25 from Atherton, was already on bail for assaulting one of her victims when she approached him again in Leigh while another man was with her on March 15 this year.

Bolton Crown Court heard how her victim, who lived at a retirement complex in the town, had been walking down Lord Street.

Prosecutor Peter Wilcock said: “He bumped into the defendant and a male he says he didn’t know.

“He recalls the defendant asking him if he had any money to which he replied that he didn’t have any for her.”

The case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

Stewart and the man with her then followed their victim home before they pushed him up against a wall.

When the victim arrived home he realised Stewart had taken his bank card.

Though he later got the card back and it did not appear that it had been used, the court heard of the profound effect it had had on the vulnerable man.

Dressed in a black coat and black North Face T-shirt, Stewart looked on via video link from prison as Mr Wilcock out a moving statement from the victim.

He said: “Amy’s responsible for assaulting me in the past and is now approaching me begging me for money and stealing my bank card.”

He said that he only wanted to be able to walk home alone at night without having to ask for help.

But Stewart, of Bag Lane in Atherton, had also targeted another vulnerable man, this time a 69-year-old in his own home at 3am on January 16 this year.

Mr Wilcock said: “He says he was sat in listening to music and having a drink when all of a sudden the defendant was present.”

She then kissed the man and stole £50.

Stewart, who has eight previous convictions for 38 offences was arrested shortly afterwards.

She eventually pleaded guilty to counts of theft for each of her crimes, having first tried to deny them.

Mr Wilcock argued that both men had been “targeted deliberately, on the basis of their vulnerability.”

Dennis Watson, defending, said he did not argue that Stewart’s crime were “anything other than mean offences.”

He said: “They were committed by someone with no concern for anyone but herself and where she would get her cocaine from.”

He added: “It was her cocaine addiction, it was her responsibility.”

Mr Watson told the court that this addiction had been the main driver behind the 25-year-old’s offences.

But he said that she now took responsibility for her own actions and had been working at course, including art courses, while in prison.

Mr Watson said: “She tells the court ‘I have got my head down and got on with it.’”

He added: “The one that presents herself to court today is a very different character to when she is immersed in cocaine addiction.”

But Recorder Paul Hodgkinson told the defendant he regarded her crimes as “despicable.”

He said: “Deliberately targeting vulnerable members of society, you didn’t give any care whatsoever for about their vulnerability.

“You didn’t give any care about their needs.”

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But Recorder Hodgkinson said he also had to think about the wider community.

He said: “There interests, not yours, are best served if we and the probation service are able to assist you, for want of a better word, to sort yourself out.”

Recorder Hodgkinson sentenced Stewart to 21 months in prison, suspended for 24 months and ordered her to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He also ordered her to complete a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement programme and a women’s problem solving course.

Recorder Hodgkinson also hit Stewart with a restraining order forbidding her from contacting or coming near her victims for five years.