A SERIAL thief who stole hundreds of pounds from an 80-year-old woman’s bank account nearly three years ago STILL hasn’t paid the money back.

Elaine McKenzie, of Merkins Avenue, Bellsmyre, used the pensioner’s debit card without permission to withdraw the cash over a period of four weeks.

McKenzie withdrew £340 from ATMs at Scotmid in Renton, Dillichip Stores in Bonhill, and the TSB branch in Alexandria between March 19 and April 15.

She was ordered to pay the money back to the victim as part of a community payback order (CPO), and told to do unpaid work as a punishment.

But at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week, McKenzie’s solicitor said his client had tried to pay back some of the money when she attended court, but claimed to have been refused.

Kenneth McGowan said: “It appears there is a difficulty as the court couldn’t assist her.

“She was told by the court that if the matter was an outstanding fine then she could simply turn up and pay it, but she was advised that it being an compensation order it requires a different process.”

Sheriff Frances McCartney replied: “Is your client saying the court refused to take money from her?

“My notes say that on January 26 a call was received by the accused requesting to view the terms of the compensation condition and CPO. It does not say the offer to pay was refused.

“Your client has persistently not engaged with paying the compensation element. She has now left it to a stage where what she says she can afford to pay cannot be accommodated.

Mr McGowan responded: “It might be a matter of simply putting her to the test. In fairness to Ms McKenzie, I have dealt with many individuals during the pandemic who simply couldn’t do the unpaid work, but she was out performing the unpaid hours during the pandemic.”

The sheriff extended the length of time to 16 months in which McKenzie has to pay the £340 back at a rate of £25 a month.

She also appeared for sentencing after admitting a series of thefts from shops in Dumbarton and the Vale, also committed during 2020.

The 48-year-old stole quantities of fresh meat from Marks and Spencer at the St James Retail Park on November 10, December 4 and 6, and on two separate occasions on December 10.

On December 4 she acted in a threatening and abusive manner by repeatedly shouting, swearing and uttering threats of violence on December 4, 2020.

The M&S thefts followed an incident where McKenzie stole gift sets worth around £390 from the Boots store in Alexandria on October 17, 2020.

She was placed on a new CPO with 12 months of social work supervision and ordered to do 160 hours’ unpaid work.