A spectator in Magistrates Court applauded yesterday when a young mother was jailed for a year for stealing more than $19,000 from a 72-year-old woman in what was described by prosecutors as "a most despicable" case.

Magistrates Court heard how Loutiqua Ann Phillips, 24, had repeatedly preyed on the elderly Pembroke woman between May last year and January this year.

In that time, she impersonated a Police officer on a number of occasions and conned the senior into believing she had caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to another vehicle in a car accident - an accident she had never even been involved in.

Phillips told the pensioner that she should have appeared in court for the car accident, and possibly even gone to jail, but that she had sorted the issue for her instead.

She made several calls and visits to the woman's home, where she repeatedly demanded thousands of dollars for the alleged damage.

Prosecutor Wayne Caines said Phillips, of Alexandra Road, Devonshire, had first gone to the woman's home to ask for information about the Girl Guides in May of last year.

She entered her home and stole her cheque book, which she and an accomplice later drew thousands of dollars on in two separate fraudulent trips to the bank.

However, weeks later she then went back to the woman with the made-up story about the car accident.

Mr. Caines said: "She represents the most despicable of offenders."

The prosecutor said Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) should not have been an option for the mother, and instead asked the courts to impose a custodial sentence.

He said she was still on licence when she committed the crimes, after spending three-and-a-half years in prison for importing cocaine.

And he said Police became involved after the pensioner became concerned and reported it to Police. Mr. Caines said her accomplice had never yet been caught or charged.

But Phillips' lawyer, Richard Horseman, told the court that his client had been suffering from depression and a personality disorder when she committed the crimes.

He said the woman had been left in serious debt after her son was born three months premature, racking up medical bills amounting to $113,000.

On top of that, he said she had been unable to hold down her job at BF&M Insurance, and had numerous other bills.

And while he admitted that a psychiatric doctor had stated that her mental and depressive conditions had not contributed to the offences, the defence lawyer said he believed they had played a role.

He said: "She gave a full and frank confession at once on being arrested and she also pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

"She has written an apology, which she wants me to send to (the victim). She has asked me to apologise to (her) in open court.

"Being diagnosed with a mental illness means you are sick. I'm not saying the stress from the debt exonerates her. It's one of the factors that I'm asking you to bear in mind."

Phillips pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing, two of forgery, eight of uttering false documents, one of impersonating a Police officer and one of intent to defraud a total of $19,427.

Mr. Horseman suggested Phillips be placed on probation to allow her to continue to look after her one-year-old son.

He added: "If the chance does not work out, the option of going East (Co-Ed facility) goes back on your desk fairly quickly."

But Mr. Caines responded to the request by claiming the only option was jail.

He said: "Who gives a 72-year-old victim a chance? If we cannot protect the elderly - our most vulnerable people - then who can we protect?

"She puts on a uniform as a Police officer. She tells the lady she is a Police constable. She comes to this court posing as a depressed person under financial strain. She needs to go to prison and she needs to be hung up high."

Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves said he had taken into account her psychiatric report and her mitigation, but said he could only impose a custodial sentence.

And he said in reading her notes, he saw that even her previous employer, BF&M, had given her a loan to help her buy a motorcycle, which she had never paid back.

He said: "BF&M succumbed and granted her a loan. She ripped them off, too. She never paid. She left (the company) and left the poor manager in trouble. I agree with the probation officer, she has attempted to take the easy road."

He said he did not believe the crimes had been driven by the mounting debt, adding: "How come not one cent got paid off."

And he said he had considered all alternative sentences but felt society had to be protected, for at least a little while, and he said he could only describe her as a con woman.

As he handed down the 12-month sentence, a man at the back of the court clapped.

Mr. Greaves added: "Miss Phillips, you are going to jail. If this whole society cannot live in peace from you, who else can?

"You are going to jail and you must pay off every cent that you owe this woman. Repay every cent before any of the parole boards let you out. They must make you go to work. That is how ATI is supposed to work.

"I don't believe men and women should go to jail and live off the taxpayer at all."

He said the only grace he was granting Phillips was that he was not sending the matter to Supreme Court, where she could have been given a longer sentence.