Cowardly woman preyed on Doncaster man in mobility scooter

Zoe Skinner pushed the 61-year-old aside and made off with the money from the ATM at Sainsbury's, on Thorne Road, at 3.50pm, on October 2, last year.

Prosecutor Beverley Wright said the victim, who suffers from myasthenia, or muscle weakness in his legs, needed a security guard to be present when he made further withdrawals.

She said that Skinner, aged 35, has 11 convictions for 25 offences, which started with shoplifting when she was 18, and included supplying drugs.

Joy Merriam, mitigating, said Skinner was earning £350 a week and would welcome the chance to repay the money.

She said there was a ten-year gap in her offending, when she got clean of drugs and had a daughter, but relapsed last year.

"She began a relationship with a man who reintroduced her to drugs," Ms Merriam added.

She said that Skinner's daughter was taken into care and Skinner resorted to prostitution.

"When she was arrested for this offence, it immediately brought her to her senses," she told Sheffield Crown Court, on January 23.

Skinner had since sought help for her drug problem, Ms Merriam said, and asked that Skinner, of Wharf Road, Doncaster, receive a suspended sentence, so she wouldn't lose her job or home.

Judge David Dixon told her: "You picked on someone who was easy prey. You did that because you're a selfish coward."

He jailed her for 14 months.