Bank executive Barbara Tannock was yesterday jailed for six months for stealing $76,500 from an elderly couple.Tannock presented Supreme Court with a cheque of $70,000 to repay most of the cash she stole from Alice and Vorhees Place before being sentenced by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves.But she was warned she faces an extra 18 months in prison if the cheque bounces; after prison, she will be on probation for two years and will have to undergo community service for an unspecified amount of time.Rejecting defence lawyer Mark Pettingill’s request not to jail his client, Mr Justice Greaves pointed to a social inquiry report highlighting Tannock’s motivation by greed, dishonest nature and long track record of conning people.Mother-of-two Tannock, 42, the former vice president of private banking at Capital G, abused her position as a personal financial consultant to steal the life savings of Mr and Mrs Place, who owned Place’s Place bar in Hamilton.Mr Place died in August 2009 aged 93; yesterday prosecutor Garrett Byrne told the court Mrs Place has been devastated at being conned by the woman she trusted to look after her finances.Tannock, the daughter of former Progressive Labour Party Senator Raymond Tannock, delivered a lengthy and eloquent speech apologising for her actions, explaining the damage to personal relationships as a result of her crime far outweigh her fall from grace.“I have lost my reputation and credibility and been ostracised by friends and colleagues and family,” she told the court.She said she feels guilty because of the relationship she had with the victims, saying of Mr Place: “I’m sure he will spin in his grave to know what I have inflicted on his wife.”Tannock added: “It’s with terrible regret that I have put Mr Place and Mrs Place through this experience.”Bursting into tears, she said sorry to her friends and family who have had to endure the case with her.“Intelligent people sometimes do stupid things, and this is one case of that,” she said.Mr Justice Greaves said: “It’s well demonstrated by your speech why so many refer to you as bright and intelligent.“That’s perhaps the most eloquent speech I have ever heard a defendant make in her own mitigation.“But the facts are the facts. This was a terribly dishonest series of acts.”Earlier, Mr Byrne said 18 months to 24 months would be a suitable punishment, but Mr Pettingill argued Tannock was trying to rebuild her life and urged Mr Justice Greaves to consider a non-custodial sentence.Responding to Mr Pettingill, the judge referred to the social inquiry report: “It’s difficult not to conclude that she has serious character flaws.“That character flaw is one of a dishonest nature. She can’t seem to stop telling lies. She can’t seem to stop cheating.”He noted she had made several attempts to start businesses but had resorted to ripping people off and blamed failure on her mother.But the judge said of her parents: “These two parents are two of the most honest persons I have ever seen.”Quoting from the report, he said: “She appears to have a high non-compliance with supervision conditions; she can’t be straight with people.”The judge went on: “One person says she’s a talented person but with a flaw in her character: her lack of integrity. Another said her motivation is her greed. She was earning a good salary; she was not in any financial difficulty.”Mr Justice Greaves said the fact she is paying cash back to the victim worked in her favour, but said he wouldn’t be surprised if the cheque bounced.“In the event it does, the following period of imprisonment will be even longer,” he warned.Tannock, of Southampton, pleaded guilty at a hearing two months ago to five counts of theft between July 2009 and January 2010. Yesterday, Mr Justice Greaves sentenced her to six months for each count, to run concurrently.