A JOBLESS mother used cheques from a cancelled account to buy goods worth more than £1,000, a court heard.

Karen Smith admitted three counts of fraud by false representation when she appeared before magistrates in Worcester yesterday.

Unemployed Smith, aged 23, of Field Farm, Village Street, Aldington, near Evesham, admitted using HSBC cheques from a cancelled bank account to fleece three businesses.

Smith sold on most of the goods but she told police the rabbits and fish she bought from a pet shop had died.

The pregnant mother-of-two, who has already served a prison sentence for dishonesty, used the cheques to buy £391 worth of gear, including a shed and fencing, from Vale Garden Limited in Badsey, near Evesham which were loaded into a transit van on Monday, March 17.

She also used the cheques at Brandon Tool Hire in Evesham, to buy a sledge hammer, a petrol generator and a vacuum cleaner worth more than £600.

She was filmed on CCTV using the cheque book and made no attempt to hide her identity.

Smith then used the cheque book to buy two rabbits, a hutch and a fish from Happy Pet Shop in Broad Street, Evesham, at a cost of £129 on Thursday, May 1.

Sallie Hewitt, prosecuting, said: “The shop manager asked her “the cheque’s not going to bounce is it?” She said “no” and wrote her number on the back.

“It is a small business – the average someone spends is about £3 so that amount of money was rather a lot. It was a big loss to a small company.”

Each time Smith used the cheques she showed her driving licence to prove her identity and made no attempt to use a false name or address.

Mark Anderson, defending, said: “She had simply not considered the inevitability of these matters being traced back to her.

“She used her cheque book issued in her name and it was her own driving licence she used by way of identification.

“She has been incredibly stupid. She’s very frightened of being returned to custody and giving birth in prison is something she regards with horror.”

Smith was given an 18-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and must take part in a general offending behaviour programme and be placed under supervision.

She will also have to pay back the £1,124 she stole from the three businesses as part of a compensation order and £60 costs.