back to article Surveillance Teddy nabs granny-bag robber

An NHS care assistant who stole from a grandmother dying of cancer was nabbed in the act by an electronically enhanced teddy bear, according to reports. The Guardian brings us the news that Yvonne Allen, 28, of Halewood, Liverpool, admitted two counts of theft last week and agreed to pay back the stolen £60. The larcenous …

COMMENTS

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  1. david

    Is it on YouTube yet?

    If not why not...

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "..given a six-month stretch in the slammer"

    Six months?

    How does that work? You get less than that for raping/stabbing someone..

    And I thought the prisons were overcrowded these days..

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Liverpool City of Culture

    The miscreant is a scouse therfore vindicating all of my previous statements about Liverpool.

    Love,

    Boris

  4. Liam

    @ "..given a six-month stretch in the slammer"

    well, she will do 3 months... to be honest she should get more - stealing from an ill pensioner! plus they have no idea how much cash had gone over a longer amount of time... how many other people has she done this to?

    she would get more like 2+ years for both of what you mentioned above

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    "..given a six-month stretch in the slammer"

    So, if they're stretching her for six months, how tall will she be when she comes out?

  6. Reptar
    Unhappy

    Be afraid...

    Should'nt this be tagged under Rise Of The Machines?

    First the Robobears will be bluetoothing data to the police (for convenience you understand), then they'll be given arrest powers (as part of the governments on going value enhancement measures) then they'll be suited up and given engage / destroy subroutines (to address the governments concern over terrorism).

    Next thing you know you've got a furry paw pressing your face into the dirt and a lascannon on the back of your head.

  7. Dan Wood

    ROTM surely...

    If the bear actually made the arrest I'd be scared!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Having grown up there,

    I can safely say that the only thing 'cultured' in Liverpool is mould.

  9. breakfast Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Next time on crimewatch...

    This could be a major asset for the prevention of porridge thefts in the fairytale woods.

  10. E_Nigma
    Unhappy

    Something Is Rotten in the State of Denmark

    A medical worker that steals from a dying patient? I'm grossed out.

  11. Danger Mouse
    Coat

    Job Back

    Knowing the eye to detail in the NHS nowadays she'll probably get her job back once she's finished her holiday in the clink.

  12. jimbarter
    Coat

    hang on...

    ...did they put up clear and informative 'CCTV' operating signs displaying the name of the data controller?

    /mines the one with the DPA stuffed into the pocket

  13. Anonymous Bastard
    Thumb Down

    @Liam

    "to be honest she should get more [...] plus they have no idea how much cash had gone over a longer amount of time... how many other people has she done this to?"

    And think how many red lights she might have run while illegally speeding at 31mph! All those times she has littered and never been proven for it. She might have let her dog foul the walkways too! If she hasn't got a dog then she clearly has and is lying about it. Lying! Now she's a terror suspect and needs to be held without charge for 42 days. SHE MIGHT BE A MURDERER!!!

    However in the real world we usually look for something called evidence before making accusations (government excluded of course).

  14. David

    Similar

    Can no-one be trusted these days? A friend of mine had an almost identical situation. Money appeared to be missing regularly from his elderly mother`s house after a cleaner/helper had visited, who I believe was connected with Social Services here in the UK. Bank notes were planted with serial numbers noted and police waited. When she left the house and was stopped by police, she dropped the money, but rather foolishly said it was hers when the police asked her, so she was banged to rights, as the saying goes. Don`t know what happened to her, but to abuse a position of trust like that makes my blood boil!

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    re. "..given a six-month stretch in the slammer"

    I don't think the women's prisons are as overcrowded as men's; it's pretty well documented that women get harsher sentences in the UK, a throwback to our witch-burning days I think.

  16. E_Nigma
    Joke

    @feminist AC

    Ahh, the good days...

    "My lord, winter is unusually harsh this year!"

    - "Oh? Well, let's just find some "witches" for the purpose of heating... And pick some fat ones!"

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    Death Penalty

    Ok, so she is willing to steal from a poor old dying woman.

    6 months will rehabilitate her?

    Not likely. Why not just give her the death penalty (I'm in the states, does the UK do capitol punishment?)

  18. Elmer Phud

    re: Death Penalty

    '(I'm in the states, does the UK do capitol punishment?)'

    Nah, you've got the 'Capitol' we've got a 'Capital'. Your punishment is having the Capitol.

    As for witches -- if she weighs as much as a duck then she's made out of wood. Wood floats and so do witches. (just bung monty python witch quote in Google)

  19. Steve

    Re: Death Penalty

    Capitol punishment? Would that involve being flogged on the White House lawn? That should get a good audience...

    As far as the death penalty goes, I think only treason, and arson in a Royal Dockyard still carry that, and I'm not sure about the arson. Polls suggest that a majority of the population are in favour, especially for terrorist crimes (real ones, like planting bombs in restaurants, not the ones like downloading a DIY Osama bin Laden beard kit), but the politicians wimp out every time they're given a vote :(

  20. StopthePropaganda
    Joke

    a six month stretch?

    musta put her in the same cell as "Big-Hands Betty", who's notorious for her repeated late-night "cavity searches" in hopes the new prisoner has some cigarettes stashed somewhere intimate...

    ...and to think there's folks in San Francisco who *pay* for such abuse...

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Death Penalty

    No, you only get the Death Penalty if you're a Brazilian electrician.

  22. Mike Hocker
    Unhappy

    Who can you trust anymore?

    Now the plushies are ratting too.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    @Anon Bastard

    While they can surely only prosecute her for the evidence at hand (as it should be), you have to admit that it's unlikely that this is the first time she stole from someone in her care.

  24. David Barr

    @Death Penalty

    Death penalty in the UK has gone. Not even for treason or arson.

    The care worker probably thought she was taking from someone who no longer needed it, or some kind of justification like that. To be honest she's just following New Labours policies - raid the pension funds to provide more tax credits.

  25. Adam Williamson
    Thumb Down

    David:

    "Can no-one be trusted these days?"

    These days?

    Try reading, oh, any newspaper's crime column from the Victorian period - stuffed with (allegedly) larcenous housemaids. Ditto the Edwardian. "Low-paid menial worker nicks from employer" is hardly a *new* headline, mate. it's always happened, in fairly small numbers.

    Steve: the death penalty has been abolished in the U.K. for all crimes, including those old chestnuts, for quite a while, now. It's those dastardly Europeans, poking in their interfering noses and telling us who we can and can't kill. Humbug!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    StopthePropaganda

    ..and to think there's folks in San Francisco who *pay* for such abuse...

    Yeah You can find those same people in Salt Lake City,Ut Birmingham, Al. WHats your point ??

  27. Adrian Tritschler
    Go

    Surveillance teddy fanclub++

    Pics or it didn't happen, I wanna see Surveillance Teddy!

  28. Dr Patrick J R Harkin

    Robobear

    "You've come down to the woods today - prepare for a big surprise..."

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Length of stretch

    You can't comment on the length of the stretch without knowing on what basis the decision was made. For example did the accused ask for umpteen seperate offences to be taken into account?

    Also the length of the sentence would be decided in accordance with the circumstances. Some chav walking in through an unlocked door and lifting the cash would probably have got a more lenient sentence, but somebody in a position of trust should get a longer sentence.

    As for the CCTV being admissable in court, it wouldn't necessarilly have been used. The fact that she had in her possession the notes with the recorded serial numbers should be evidence enough to secure a conviction.

  30. Xander
    Thumb Down

    ROTM

    "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a cuddly paw stamping on a human face … for ever."

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