A PERSISTENT thief and former Dene Court resident has been jailed for more than a year after admitting to tendering fake Scottish £20 notes in Andover.

Stacie Rose Campbell was sentenced to a total of 15 months in prison when she appeared in Winchester Crown Court on June 3.

The court heard that the 22-year-old admitted to tendering fake £20 Clydesdale Bank notes at businesses in Andover on occasions on March 16, 18, 22 and 31.

She also pleaded guilty to three charges of theft of meat and clothing from Marks and Spencer in Andover.

On February 19, she stole steaks to an unknown value from the High Street retailer, joints of meat worth £31.47 on February 21 and clothing to the value of £79 on May 1.

Recorder Don Tait sentenced Campbell to 15 months in prison – 12 months for tendering counterfeit currency, two months for the theft and a further month for breaching the conditions of a previous sentence.

Investigating officer PC Brian Pittman said: “Stacie Rose Campbell was committing a crime that has a detrimental effect on the local economy and therefore the community in the area as a whole. “The National Crime Agency estimates that across the country this type of crime costs the UK economy several billion pounds a year. The sentence handed to Campbell sends a clear message that counterfeit currency offences are taken very seriously by the courts, and those convicted face substantive prison sentences.”