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Shopped until she was copped

A friend in need was to cost us dearly


Published by: Elizabeth Barnett and Amy Thompson
Published on: 19th April 2010

Popping the £5 note in a little box on the kitchen shelf, I placed the birthday card next to the others.
I couldn’t believe my little girl was five. ‘Another one?’ my mate Caroline asked, sipping her tea.
‘I know,’ I chuckled. ‘Macy gets more money than me.’
‘Well, at least someone’s earning her keep,’ she sighed.
I looked at her, puzzled.
‘I lost my job at the bank,’ she explained. ‘Poor Rob’s paying the bills while I find something else. But it’s taking a while.’
I’d known Caroline Landles for five years. We’d met when she started dating Robert, a mate of
my boyfriend Leigh.
Ever since, we’d got on like a house on fire. Blonde and bubbly, it was hard not to like her. What is it they say? A friend in need…
So when Robert called to ask if Caroline could use our computer to look for jobs online, we were more than happy to help. ‘Of course,’ Leigh said. ‘No problem.’
Over the next few days, Caroline came over to browse the internet and update her CV while I chatted away. The hours flew by.
‘Oh no,’ I groaned one day. ‘I’ve got to pick Macy up from school.’
Glancing at my son Ellis, two, snoring on the sofa, I couldn’t bring myself to wake him.
‘Would you mind watching him for a minute?’ I asked her. ‘You’re welcome to use the computer.’
‘No problem,’ she said. ‘You go, I’ll keep an eye on him. Least I can do after all you’ve done for me.’
Dashing out to the car, I thanked my lucky stars. It’d been great having another woman around the house to chat to – not to mention handy when I needed to nip out.
Back home, she even flicked the kettle on when I got home. She was pouring just as Leigh walked in. He looked upset. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, worried.
‘I just got off the phone to my mum,’ he said. ‘She got a new laptop delivered today. I called the store, and they said it’d been paid for on her credit card. Looks like someone used her details, but forgot to change the delivery address.’
Good grief! ‘Has she called her bank?’ I gasped.
‘Yeah, it’s all sorted. They’re sending her a new card, but she’s still worried sick,’ he replied.
‘Well, I hope they catch whoever it is,’ I said. ‘Just goes to show how careful you need to be these days.’
I’d almost forgotten Caroline standing behind us until she spoke.
‘I’d better be off,’ she said. ‘Hope your mum’s okay, Leigh.’
‘Thanks,’ he smiled back. ‘Bye.’
We thought it was sorted, but when Leigh’s mum got her new bank card, there was more news.
‘A lady from the bank called saying they thought my new card was being used, too, and asked me to confirm my details,’ she told us. ‘I didn’t think at first, just gave her what she asked for. But when I called the bank afterwards, they said nobody had called me.’
It turned out whoever had used her card before was at it again – even pretending to be from the bank! Luckily, the transaction they’d made was stopped right away, and yet more new details and another bank card were sent to Leigh’s mum.
Over the next couple of weeks, I was extra careful when using my debit card, making sure no one could see my pin number.
A week later, I picked up yet another birthday card from the mat for Macy. This one had cash in, too. So far, I’d stashed £150 of birthday money in the pot in the kitchen. When she saw something she wanted, we could go and buy it.
Taking the box down to add the money, I frowned. Odd. It felt lighter. Opening the lid, I gasped.
‘Leigh,’ I called. ‘Have you taken Macy’s birthday money?’
‘Haven’t touched it,’ he replied.
‘So, where is it?’ I asked, panic rising. We hunted all over the house, but found nothing.
‘The kids are too little to reach the shelf,’ I said, baffled. Then it hit me. Only one other person had been alone in our house – Caroline.
‘You can’t be serious?’ Leigh snorted when I told him my theory. ‘She’s our friend, not a thief!’
‘She’s the only person it could be,’ I frowned.
‘Let’s not go throwing accusations around until we’ve got evidence,’ he reasoned. He was right, there was probably an innocent explanation.
Next morning, opening the post, I noticed Leigh had a statement for his credit card. Leigh kept his card in his sock drawer, and only used it for emergencies, so the statement should be the same as always. Still, I decided to check. Opening the envelope, I pulled it out. And froze. What the…?
The card had been maxed out – the total amount owed was £3,535!
I called Leigh. ‘I haven’t used it in months,’ he said. ‘It’s a mistake.’
When he called the credit card company, though, there was no mistake. Someone had used his card to draw cash out and join online gambling sites in the last few weeks. Leigh checked his drawer when he got home, and his card was missing. Determined to get to the bottom of things, he checked his statement.
‘Whoever it is used it at a shop in town,’ he said, grabbing his coat.
Two hours later, he was back.
‘I went to the shop, and asked if they could help,’ he said. ‘They showed me their security camera footage. I filmed it on my mobile. Take a look,’ he fumed.
Fuzzy CCTV images flickered on the screen. At the checkout, buying scatter cushions, was a familiar-looking woman. Shoulder-length blonde hair, a grin on her face – there was no denying it was… ‘Caroline?!’ I gasped.
I watched as she paid using Leigh’s card, tucked it back into her purse, and then left the shop. Cheeky mare lifted her shopping bag to her face when she spotted the CCTV camera. Too late!
Leigh took his phone and confronted her. I paced the kitchen until he got back. ‘She broke down as soon as I showed it to her,’ he said. ‘Confessed everything.’
Not only had she stolen Macy’s money and our credit card, she’d got Leigh’s mum’s details from our computer. She’d ordered the laptop and called pretending to be from the bank. I burst into tears. I’d thought we’d been friends.
At court, she admitted having a gambling addiction, and stealing our money to fund it. She got a year’s suspended sentence and 250 hours of unpaid work. We got the debt she’d totted up written off. They say a friend in need is a friend indeed. To me, though, Caroline wasn’t a friend at all.
Sarah Stevens, 35, Grimsby, South Humberside