A bench at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court has given a teenage thief a second chance, after she breached the terms of a suspended prison sentence.
In February 2017 Chloe Knutson, 19, of Scotswood, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary of a dwelling in relation to the theft of £2,900 of cash from her grandmother's home. The money had been set aside by the elderly victim to cover the costs of her own funeral.
The finger of suspicion was quickly pointed at Knutson, who was arrested and found to have a wad of cash hidden in her bra.
Asked by police why she had stolen the money, shameless Knutson replied: "I was sick of not having any money and I knew my grandmother had some, so I thought, fuck it."
District Judge Bernard Begley imposed an 18 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. Knutson was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and engage with the probation service.
In early October 2017 the probation service reported back to the court that the troubled teen had failed to undertake any unpaid work or attend meetings with her case officer. A warrant without bail was duly requested and granted by the bench of the day.
Knutson was finally arrested on that warrant and returned to face the court last week. Appearing from the secure dock she pleaded guilty to breaching the suspended sentence order.
Stuart Athley, for the defence, told the court that his client hadn't appreciated the seriousness of the order imposed earlier.
Instead of activating the suspended sentence, which is the usual starting point for such an offence, the bench decided to extend the operational period of the sentence and Knutson was allowed to walk free.
The bench may have been privy to information about the circumstances that we are not, but their decision seems a bit on the lenient side. In most other circumstances Knutson would have been in the back of the van on her way to Low Newton.
We hope she makes the most of the second chance she has been given.
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