Abigail George has been jailed for three years (Picture: NNP; ncjMedia)
A conwoman who pretended to be a chiropodist and examined a pensioner’s feet so she could steal her purse has been jailed for three years.
Abigail George, 38, told her victim, now deceased, that she was there for an appointment that had been arranged through her friend.
George chatted and even had a cigarette with the woman during her 30-minute stay then said she would be back in a few days to give further treatment.
But after leaving, the elderly victim noticed her bag had been moved and £555 cash had been stolen from her purse.
After being arrested and released on bail, she was later caught attempting to smuggle cocaine into prison by hiding the drugs in her mouth and kissing her imprisoned boyfriend.
Prosecutor Helen Towers told Newcastle Crown Court that while visiting her boyfriend in HMP Northumberland, ‘she was observed on CCTV putting her hand down her top, removing her face mask and putting something in her mouth before kissing him.’
The court heard the boyfriend then coughed the package onto the table and put it down his trousers, where the cocaine was found.
Thieving conwoman Abigail George posed as a chiropodist in order to steal from a vulnerable pensioner (Picture: North News & Pictures)
George admitted she passed the drugs as she ‘felt she had no choice but to do so’ and was under threat.
The court heard how George, who worked as a senior carer at a dementia unit, became addicted to drugs after starting a relationship with the felon.
Judge Tim Gittins said she was the subject of domestic abuse and coercion and, as a result of the relationship, had ‘fallen’ into criminality to fund her heroin addiction.
However, he sentenced her to 40 months behind and said she knew the woman in sheltered housing was vulnerable.
The judge said drugs in prison ‘generate trouble’.
Katie Spence, defending, said George is now ‘clean’ and feels embarrassed and ashamed of what she did.
Miss Spence said George previously worked as a senior carer on a dementia unit, has good prospects of rehabilitation and added: ‘She wants to get her life back on track.’
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