A judge branded a former Harrogate Borough Council officer a “thoroughly dishonest woman” as he sentenced her for stealing from two elderly residents at sheltered accommodation in Ripon.
Yvonne Jones, 60, conned the victims into paying rent in cash up front, some of which she pocketed herself, leaving them in rental arrears.
She appeared for sentence today when judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said she had been convicted “on the clearest of evidence”.
She was given a 12-month community order and made to carry out 180 hours’ unpaid work.
Jones, of High Street, Starbeck, had denied the offences, which occurred when she was a housing and estate officer with the council. She lost her job after her crimes came to light.
A jury convicted her of two counts of theft following a trial four weeks ago. She was acquitted of three further allegations of stealing from vulnerable tenants at council-run sheltered housing in Blossomgate Court and Bondgate Court in Ripon.
Asked for cash
Prosecutor Philip Standfast said Jones had asked the victims to pay rent a week in advance but kept some of the cash for herself.
One of the named victims, a woman “of some years”, was conned out of £147 after moving into a new council-owned flat in January 2018.
When the victim signed for the new flat, Jones asked her for £405 rent after completing the paperwork.
The woman paid cash and Jones gave her a receipt on a business card, but it showed two figures of £180 and £225 rather than the whole £405. Mr Standfast said:
“(The victim) didn’t question why that receipt was written in that particular way.
“Later, her account was checked by a neighbourhood team leader with the council and there was no record of that cash being paid into that lady’s account.”
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Mr Standfast said there were three payments of £85.67 into the council’s account in January and February 2018, but that still left a deficit of £147.72 which had not been credited to the victim’s account.
Blossomgate Court
The second victim, a man who took up a tenancy at Blossomgate Court in Ripon, was fleeced out of £449 by Jones, whom he first met in February 2018.
She asked him for £200 for rent which he didn’t have on him, but he withdrew it from his bank the following day. Mr Standfast said:
“Despite having asked for £200, (Jones) gave him £20 back, saying he had given her too much.”
“It’s not clear why she did that.”
On February 8, Jones met the named victim again and asked for another £200 rent. Mr Standfast said:
“He offered her a cheque, but the defendant said she needed cash and he withdrew it and paid it to her.”
In early March 2018, there was a direct debit from the victim’s account to the council for £600, but Jones told him he owed £669. Mr Standfast said:
“She claimed the council could only take an amount of £600 from his account, so he withdrew (the extra) £69 from his bank and paid that to her.”
The victim’s rental account was checked and the £469 he had given her, minus the £20 she had given him back, had not been credited to his account. He notified the council of this.
Housing officer for four years
Jones had worked as a housing officer at the council from 2014 to 2018, when she was finally rumbled and ultimately resigned from her post.
The prosecution had alleged that Jones had also taken cash from three other vulnerable tenants and either didn’t issue receipts for these payments or did hand them receipts but didn’t forward some of that cash into the council’s account.
These tenants included a named man with learning difficulties who needed care and a 77-year-old pensioner with terminal cancer who was receiving housing benefit. However, Jones was acquitted of these three allegations.
Mr Standfast alleged that all the complainants’ accounts were checked by a team leader at the council, who “found discrepancies between what had been paid by the tenants and what was found in their accounts”.
Enquiries were carried out and Jones was suspended in March 2018. She resigned four days later.
Before handing down the community punishment, judge Mr Morris told Jones:
“You are a thoroughly dishonest woman.”
She was also ordered to pay a statutory surcharge.
