A serial fraudster who has previously stolen from nearly every member of her immediate family has returned to form after staying out of trouble for more than six years.
Stephanie Swanston was a regular in the courts and on ChronicleLive up until 2014 after she repeatedly stole, conned people out of cash or fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds in benefits. As previously reported, the 34-year-old once shamelessly raided the bank account of her elderly grandfather George, 75 at the time, to jet off to Turkey.
On another occasion, the crook pawned her own mother’s watches to get her hands on cash and, on another, applied for more than £7,000 in carer’s allowance, by forging her grandfather’s signature. She also used her sister’s name to make separate applications for the payment.
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After spending time behind bars, Swanston, who has at least 39 offences on her record for fraud alone, appeared to turn her life around and stayed out of trouble for six years. However, in July and October 2020, the mum appeared to be back up to her old tricks.
Newcastle Magistrates' Court was told that Swanston conned two families out of cash by advertising caravans that didn't exist to rent for holidays online. She was tracked down and confronted by one of the victims but only gave him back £100 of his money, prompting him to ring the police.
Now, Swanston, formerly of Gateshead but now living in Jubilee Terrace, in Byker, has been given a chance to prove her latest offending was just a blip after she admitted two counts of fraud and was given a 12-month community order.
Saba Shan, prosecuting, said: "On July 16 2020 and October 9 2020, the defendant advertises on Gumtree about caravan breaks and caravans to rent from her. The first complainant paid £350, a second complainant paid £190, which were paid into either the defendant's account or one linked to her.
"Both complainants quickly realised that the adverts were false and there were no caravans. They repeatedly made contact with the defendant. The first complainant managed to track the defendant down to her home address and confronted her. She paid back £100 of the money. She then insisted he give her more time to get the rest of the money."
The court heard that the first victim rang the police soon after the second, who was not refunded anything from Swanston. However, he had received money back from the Bank of Scotland.
Peter Thubron, defending, said Swanston was "apologetic, embarrassed and remorseful". He added: "There was a drug problem, which is now being dealt with and she's on Methadone. She is now receiving a great deal of support."
Also ordering Swanston to pay a total of £250 compensation and £150 costs, District Judge Kate Meek said: "It's a long time since you committed offences. I have read that you're doing very well and have made significant progress since then. That, however, doesn't make these offences any less serious."
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