A SHERIFF said it was a "significant breach of trust" when a Wellwood woman pretended to be her gran to commit fraud.

Toni Young managed to get Sky to refund direct debits worth £2,000, having access to her grandmother's account.

Family only became suspicious a month later and contacted the police after carrying out some investigations.

Young, 21, of Burt Street, Wellwood, previously admitted that on December 7, 2016, at an address in Dunfermline and elsewhere she pretended to officers of Sky Digital, Carnegie Campus, Dunfermline, that she was her 77-year-old grandmother and that she wished to redeem a quantity of direct debit payments, claiming they had been paid unlawfully, the truth being she had no authority from her to make any such claim and induced Sky Digital staff to repay the direct debit payments and she thus obtained £2,000 by fraud.

Depute fiscal Jamie Hilland explained that Young had lived with her grandmother between the ages of 12 and 18 and had access to her debit and savings account to help with day-to-day purchases.

On December 7, 2016, Young completed a refund form to Sky to redeem four years’ worth of direct debits to her gran, the court heard. This amounted to £2,000.

"The following month, in January 2017, (the complainer) saw that she was in debt which was a surprise as she had never missed a payment," Mr Hilland said.

The gran told Young's aunt and she made some investigations with the bank.

After further investigations were made, the police were contacted and they arrested Young.

Defence solicitor Roshni Joshi said: "She fully accepts the fraud that she committed and the monies she received through that fraud.

"While she struggled to see the harm caused to the complainer (Sky) in this incident, I think it was down to naivety.

"We are now two years since this offence and she continues to have support from her grandmother.

"She is extremely regretful that she took advantage of her relationship.

"There were difficulties that had arisen in her life that contributed to that.

"The company have rectified the account and the grandmother has not been charged."

Sheriff James MacDonald said: "This is an old offence but nevertheless you took advantage of an opportunity to access your grandmother's bank account and found a suitable way to plunder money.

"It was a significant breach of trust."

The sheriff imposed a sentence of 18 months of supervision and 120 hours of unpaid work.

He also ordered Young to pay £1,000 in compensation.

"It's clear you cannot repay the full amount but you will pay a significant amount back," Sheriff MacDonald said.