Mother of five jailed for shops con

Kathleen Perry - also known as Kathleen Sweeney - , 38, carried out her 'sophisticated crimewave' from December, 2002, to March, 2003 - totting up 12 offences.

The Sidley mother-of-five admitted going into shops mainly in the Hastings area and pretending an absent employee owed her money, usually for goods ordered from a catalogue.

Lewes Crown Court heard on one occasion, she went into a store in Sidley and convinced the cashier that the manager of the shop had promised her a refund for some magazines she had bought.

On another occasion she went into a pine table shop claiming she was from the NSPCC and asking for money they had collected for raffle tickets, but the assistant refused to hand over any cash.

Perry, of Camperdown Street, admitted eight counts of obtaining property by deception and four counts of attempting to obtain property by deception.

Appearing for sentencing, she asked for 22 similar offences to be taken into consideration.