OAP stole £47,000 from WRVS

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A pensioner who stole £47,000 from the till of a hospital charity shop had two previous convictions for similar offences, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Susan Hadlow, 60, admitting taking cash from the Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Llantrisant, in 2006.

The court heard she became desperate after she and her husband became ill. She has since paid back the money.

The WRVS said it did not know she had previous convictions in 1972 and 1976.

Hadlow worked as a part-time paid treasurer for the WRVS from August 2004 following six months' unpaid work, the hearing was told.

The charity called in the police after routine checks highlighted irregularities.

Phillip Morris, defending, said his client and her husband had been forced to give up well-paid jobs due to their ill health.

'Triple heart bypass'

He said Hadlow had always planned to repay the money as, before she was arrested, she had taken out a £30,000 loan on the family home in Pontyclun.

The remainder of the money was repaid with an inheritance she had received.

The court was told Hadlow was fined in 1972 for forging cheques at a factory in south east Wales and in 1976 she was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence for stealing from Pontypool leisure centre.

After the case she told the South Wales Echo newspaper: "I went to work for the WRVS to give back something because of my surgery - I had a triple heart bypass.

"I'm very sorry that I've caused the WRVS all this. It should never have come to this because I should have got help."

A spokeswoman for the WRVS said: "As a charity, accountable to the public, we do not tolerate any mishandling of money spent at our shops and cafes or donated to our projects.

"We will always take effective action to ensure that our projects are run transparently and with appropriate financial control."