BREAKING: Police officer admits cash con leukaemia lie
Rachel hewitt
A FORMER police officer is facing up to 12-months in prison after admitting conning cash out of her colleagues by falsely claiming her teenage daughter was suffering from leukaemia.
Mother-of-two Rachel Hewitt falsely obtained money from fellow employees at North Yorkshire Police and the neighbouring West Yorkshire force between 2009 and 2011, telling them her daughter Natasha, 15, was undergoing chemotherapy after having tumours removed.
The 39-year-old, who lives in Ash Grove, South Elmsall, pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to a charge of misconduct in public office and separate charge of fraud on Monday.
Officers raised money on two separate appeals amounting to hundreds of pounds.
Dressed in a dark suit, Hewitt showed no signs of remorse as she pleaded guilty during the five-minute hearing.
The first offence she admitted was that while being a public officer she wilfully misconducted herself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust without reasonable excuse or justification.
The charge said she repeatedly claimed her daughter Natasha was ill with a form of cancer, had had a tumour surgically removed and required chemotherapy necessitating Rachel Hewitt’s absence from work. The charge related to her employment between January 1, 2009, and October 10 2011.
She also pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud between the same dates by dishonestly and intending to make a gain for herself by making a false representation to the North Yorkshire Police Authority which she knew was untrue or misleading. She told them her daughter Natasha was suffering from a form of cancer in breach of section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
The charges were that she had misled her employers. As a result of which she received time off work and was given a sabbatical. None of this was true and the time off was to assist her daughter in her riding ambitions.
A charge of fraud by making a false representation - which Hewitt denied - will be left on the court file at the conclusion of the case, prosecutor Simon Batiste said.
Judge Michael Mettyear delayed sentencing until June 6.
PC Hewitt was on a career break from the force when she was arrested last year.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wakefield
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
