A former police worker, whose achievements as a union rep were once praised by a British Prime Minister, became hooked on heroin and turned to crime.

Nicola Njie posed as a wealthy customer when attempting to buy a £25,000 Rolex watch, using funds fraudulently placed into her bank account, Leicester Crown Court was told.

The 43-year-old tried to dupe jewellery shop staff, falsely claiming it was a 50th birthday present for her husband.

Before handing over the "most expensive watch in the store," checks were made with Njie's bank and the staff were warned not to part with the Rolex.

Njie, of St Mary's Avenue, Barwell, near Hinckley, pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property, a bank account credit of almost £55,000, knowing or believing it constituted a benefit from criminal conduct, in May 2017.

She also admitted stealing three designer handbags, worth a total of £1,439, from TK Maxx, in Hinckley, and shoplifting from the One Stop Shop, in Hinckley, in July and August last year.

What happened?

Jonathan Dunne, prosecuting, said that an elderly woman from the North East of England with a considerable bank balance was targeted by unknown people who arranged for sums amounting to nearly £55,000 to be transferred into the defendant's account.

He said that as soon as the defendant's Lloyds Bank branch became aware of the fraud the account was frozen.

Mr Dunne said that the attempt to obtain the £25,000 Rolex was at a branch of Goldsmith's jewellers in Leeds.

The defendant presented her debit card to make the purchase, but store staff declined to hand over the luxury watch.

When she left empty-handed, two males made follow-up phone calls to the store unsuccessfully trying to continue the scam.

The judge was told Njie, a mother of two, who had previously held down a number of good jobs, including with Leicestershire Police, only began offending in her late 30s, due to drug addiction. 

What did the judge say?

Judge Martin Hurst said: "It seems you've had quite a fall.

"You did well at school and had a number of good jobs; one with the police and you were presented to the Prime Minister for good work as a union representative.

"You allowed yourself to fall into the clutches of heroin addiction which led to you first offending in 2013.

"There was a delay in offending for a number of years, due to successful drug rehabilitation.

"You then began re-offending.

"An elderly and vulnerable lady living in the North East had significant sums in her bank account."

"Someone, we don't know who or by what means, was able to impersonate her with you, attending at your branch of Lloyds Bank.

"She was added as a joint account holder onto your account (in the victim's name).

"You say you were acting throughout under duress."

The judge said Njie was in the jeweller's store for about an hour, whilst staff made inquiries.

He told the defendant: "Your basis of plea states you were being used by a group of men who were closely supervising you.

"He said the prosecution accepted her claim she was involved due to "coercion and exploitation."

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The judge said: "This sort of offending is very lucrative.

"There's far too much of this, where people have money stolen from their bank accounts by sophisticated fraudsters who always need people like you."

Judge Hurst said if she re-offended she could expect custody.

He said: "You're a former police worker, you need to completely break those associations.

"I know you're intelligent, you need to go back to being a hard working person  - it's up to you."

What was said in Njie's defence?

Dharmendra Toor, mitigating, said: "The offending dovetails with her drug usage."

He said after attaining good school grades the defendant was recruited by Leicestershire Police under a youth training scheme for two years before going on to work elsewhere, including with customer services for E.ON energy provider.

He said a March 2010 national newspaper report featured an article on the defendant, when she received a Union Learning Rep of the Year award from the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who praised her achievement in bringing learning opportunities to thousands of E.ON colleagues, not just for UNISON members but many others too.

Mr Toor told the court that Njie was a former victim of domestic violence, before her marriage ended in 2004.

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He said: "She began using drugs.

"Although her (criminal) record started in 2013, it was when she was without a 'script and she resorted to petty theft to feed her addiction."

He said of the latest offending: "She wasn't the mastermind behind this bank fraud.

"She was taken to Leeds and there were threats made.

"At one point staff in the jeweller's, as the sale was going through, realised things did not add up.

"They saw the female (defendant) was on the phone a lot and kept looking over her shoulder.

"She played a limited function through coercion and intimidation.

"She's not a prolific criminal."

The court heard she was "doing extremely well" in turning her life around for the better.  

Njie was given a nine month  jail sentence, suspended for two years, with six months of drug treatment and a five day rehabilitation activity requirement.