FERN Dewsnap repaid a friend's kindness by selling his television to a secondhand dealer.
Blackburn magistrates heard that Michael Taylor had taken the then 17-year-old under his wing after she had been left destitute by a house fire.
He lent her money, his girlfriend gave her clothes and Mr Taylor lent her a television set after helping her to find a bedsit.
But shortly after she found herself in a desperate financial predicament and sold the TV.
Dewsnap, 19, of East Park Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to theft and was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £40 compensation to the secondhand dealer from whom the TV had been recovered.
The court heard that Mr Taylor worked on a freelance basis for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and in January 1998, had got involved in a story about Dewsnap after she became homeless.
Tom Snape, prosecuting, said: "Through his contacts he helped her get a new bedsit and his girlfriend gave her some clothes," said Mr Snape. "He also lent her a television."
When, shortly after, Mr Taylor discovered Dewsnap had moved he tracked her down and asked her to return the TV.
She at first said it had been stolen in a burglary but he did not believe her and eventually the police were called.
Michael Singleton, defending, said that as a result of the fire Dewsnap had lost everything.
He said Dewsnap repaid the money Mr Taylor had lent her but as time went on she got into a financial predicament and sold the TV.
When Mr Taylor asked for it back she tried to recover it from the secondhand dealer but it was not possible.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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