By Dave Lord

A CALLOUS Perth mother who preyed on the elderly and disabled to fund her heroin addiction was jailed for 185 days yesterday after a sheriff branded her “downright nasty.”

Susan McElwee admitted fleecing cash from, among others, a wheelchair-bound man and an elderly female pensioner.

McElwee had pleaded for a lenient sentence, insisting she would not be able to cope with a lengthy jail term.

However, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said it was the only appropriate way in which to punish McElwee for systematically targeting “vulnerable locals.”

Appearing from custody, the 35-year-old of Crieff Road admitted a raft of charges, including drug possession and the breach of a curfew order.

The part-time cleaner also pleaded guilty to stealing £80 from a disabled man at the cinema on Murray Street, Perth, on August 7 last year; and admitted taking £20 from a man at Viewfield Place on August 29, and a handbag containing £40 from a property on Primrose Crescent on June 21 this year.

The court heard that McElwee offered to perform sexual favours on some of her victims—but had no intention of carrying them out.

Depute fiscal Lucy Keane gave details of the offences.

“The man in the wheel-chair was in his mid-30s and was at the disabled entrance to the cinema when he was approached by the accused,” she told the court.

“She engaged him in conversation and said she wanted money from him.

“He initially refused but she was quite persistent in her requests...and she eventually opened a money belt that he was wearing.

“She removed £80 and then walked away from him.”

Ms Keane said the disabled man was left utterly helpless.

“Because of his condition he could not stop her or call out for assistance,” the depute fiscal said. “When he got home he told his carer who in turn contacted the police.”

Ms Keane said that, just a few days later, McElwee took £20 from a male acquaintance.

“When she failed to return the money the witness contacted police,” she said.

Ms Keane then gave details of how McElwee targeted a 72-year-old pensioner in her own home.

“At about 9.15am on the day in question the lady, who lives on her own, heard a knock on the door,” she said.

Ms Keane said that the pensioner’s bag and purse were in the hallway and visible from the door.

“The accused told her that someone had thrown her wallet into a bush at the rear of the lady’s house and that she wanted to borrow some shears so she could retrieve it.

“The lady agreed to go and get some but when she came back two minutes later her bag containing £40 was gone. She contacted police and officers found her to be upset and rather shaken by what had happened.”

Solicitor Cliff Culley said that McElwee’s offending was “all drug related.” He added, “She is not proud about what she has done.

“When she took money from the men as described she was promising sexual favours which were not performed.

“That shows how low she had fallen in relation to her own self esteem at the time.”

A letter from McElwee, written while on remand at Cornton Vale, was also presented to the court.

Addressed to the sheriff, it stated, “I promise I will not let you down ever again.

“I feel like a nobody in here. I just cannot handle jail and being away from home, my job, my family. I feel homesick and cry a lot.

“I am so sorry for what I have done in the past. I am absolutely disgusted with my behaviour.”

Describing her own actions as “malicious and foolish,” McElwee said she wanted to “make it up” to the people she had stolen from.

“I am so embarrassed about what I have done to the poor people that I took advantage of,” she added.

Jailing McElwee, Sheriff Foulis said, “You were effectively targeting and fleecing these vulnerable locals. There was nothing the person in the wheelchair could do to get the money back.

“Some of these offences are downright nasty—you misled a 72-year-old woman who lived on her own when she was trying to help you,” the sheriff continued.

“I can quite accept that you have a problem with regard to drugs but that does not set you apart from a lot of other folk who appear in this court.

“What I cannot accept is that you duped a man in a wheelchair and a 72-year-old woman.

“I think it is wholly appropriate that you receive a custodial sentence for these crimes,” he added.