A WOMAN who stole £9,244 from a mentally unstable pensioner in Teddington - while her mother was employed to clean his house - has been punished with community service.

Suzan Al-Bloushi from Hounslow pleaded guilty to 19 counts of obtaining money by deception over six months, at Richmond Magistrates' Court. She then appeared for sentencing at Kingston Crown Court on March 10 and along with 180 hours community service was ordered to pay compensation to the victim of £5,000 within two years.

Paul Cox, the Twickenham CID officer who headed the investigation, was disappointed with the outcome. He said: "This was a dirty crime, perpetrated by the greed of someone who took advantage of the hospitality of a frail man, aged 78 at the time."

He added: "She showed no remorse and with her legal team tried to frustrate the investigation, even to the extent of, on one occasion, attempting to mislead the magistrates at court. Whilst it is not for me to comment on the sentence, I feel concerned that a full compensation order was not obtained."

Between December 20, 1999 and July 11, 2000, Al-Bloushi wrote 19 cheques to transfer money from Cyril Gillott's bank account to her own. She was 17 years old at the time and her mother was employed to clean Mr Gillott's home in Broom Road, Teddington - a man who was suffering the initial stages of dementia.

The deception was uncovered by a solicitor investigating the victim's finances and on December 24, 2002, Al-Bloushi was arrested on suspicion of theft. DC Cox says their investigation was hampered by a complete lack of co-operation from Al-Bloushi, who declined to answer questions or give samples of handwriting. But due to police persistence, the suspect was eventually charged at Twickenham station in September 2003 and the case finally came to Richmond Magistrates' Court on February 2, this year.

Al-Bloushi was represented by counsel when appearing for sentence at crown court and the judge heard that she had suffered depression, alcoholism and drug abuse. Her defence argued that a prison sentence would have a devastating effect and would disrupt her studies at Southampton University. A pre-sentence probation report also said she had a low risk of re-offending'.

Passing sentence, the judge commented that she had not needed the money at that time and had spent it on luxury items, but said he accepted the mitigation outlined by her defence counsel. Although she was only ordered to pay £5,000 compensation to Mr Gillott, the judge said she had a moral obligation' to pay the full £9,244.

Mr Gillott now resides at a residential care home at Craig House, Ham, arranged by the Social Care Team of Richmond upon Thames social services.