Woman stole cash from disabled man in wheelchair at Sunderland city centre bus stop

Kristina Rush and another woman took £90 from a bag the vulnerable wheelchair user was carrying in Sunderland on June 17 last year.

A Judge at Newcastle Crown Court said the victim was "targeted" due to his vulnerability.

Rush, then of Cartwright Rd, Hylton Castle, Sunderland, admitted theft.

Judge Penny Moreland told the 37-year-old: "He was a vulnerable victim, in my view. The gentleman was confined to a wheelchair and has one arm paralysed.

"He was targeted by you and another as he waited at a bus stop and you took, from a bag he had strapped on him, £90 in cash.

"I am satisfied you targeted him as a vulnerable victim."

Judge Moreland said the stolen cash was of "significant value" to the victim.

Rush was sentenced to 32 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with rehabilitation requirements and a three month curfew.

The judge told her: "You are making progress in dealing with those problems which led you to commit the offence in the first place."