Former Bexhill College student theft shame

A bank cashier who stole nearly £90,000 from an Eastbourne bank will not have to pay back a penny.

Sara Drage - a former Bexhill College student - told a court she was double crossed and the cash she took from the Halifax branch within Steel and Co's premises in Old Town was stolen from her during a robbery by men armed with machetes while she was on the run.

The 24-year-old cashier appeared before a crown court judge at Lewes last week and the court heard only 1,885 had been recovered. Around 84,000 is still missing.

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Drage, who was living in Seaside at the time, stole the cash from the safe and an ATM at the premises in Albert Parade on Saturday May 14.

She fled the country two days later after driving to Dover and taking the ferry to Calais. She drove to Spain and was arrested on May 17 when she arrived at Gatwick airport on a flight from Barcelona.

She admitted theft and was jailed for 15 months when she appeared at Lewes Crown Court in September.

But she was released on October 26 and appeared in court again on Friday for a confiscation hearing.

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The Crown applied under the Proceeds of Crime Act for the 84,700 outstanding from her haul to be forfeited or Drage could have faced more time behind bars.

But Drage was spared prison after telling the court she had no idea where the stolen cash is and that she had been double-crossed.

Judge Charles Kemp ruled that although a huge amount of her story was "difficult to believe", he was driven to the conclusion she no longer had access to the money.

The money seized from her when she arrived back at Gatwick will be paid back to the Halifax but no further action will be taken over the missing money.

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Judge Kemp said, "The case is, to put it fairly neutrally, unusual."

The court heard Drage had run up 5,000 in debt and confided in her flatmate, 23-year-old Kevin Hill about the possibility of stealing from the bank branch, where she worked as a cashier and also a cleaner.

She said he had encouraged her and they decided to split the cash and start new lives abroad.

She took the money after a Saturday morning shift and she and Mr Hill drove to Dover intending to travel to France.

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But she said there were too many police around at the port so they decided to get the train to East Croydon to stay with Mr Hill's cousin, Danny Hill, in London.

The three, along with a friend of Danny's, went to a hotel for the night and it was there she said the money disappeared.

She told the court, "I was alone in the room with Danny as Kevin and Danny's friend had gone out to the shop. I fell asleep at about 2am and woke up again at 4am.

"It was just me in the room and I found all the money had gone.

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"I was scared, worried, I didn't know what to do. I tried to ring Kevin but his phone was switched off. I decided to go back to Eastbourne."

Drage said as she was in a taxi on her way to the station Mr Hill rang her and told her that two of Danny Hill's friends had gone into the hotel room armed with machetes and taken the money.

Drage said, "I didn't believe him. I thought Danny Hill and his friend had taken the money but I was scared of Danny's temper so I didn't want to challenge him.

"Kevin said he didn't want to go abroad."

Miss Drage said she and Mr Hill returned to their flat in Eastbourne where she wrote notes to her parents saying she had robbed the bank because she was being threatened by a gang of men who had been following her. She told the court she lied.

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She drove to Dover and got the ferry to Calais before driving to the South of France and then on to Barcelona before heading back to the UK.

When she arrived she only had 1,800 left, which was seized by police.

She said at first she did not tell the police about being "double-crossed" because she was scared of Kevin and Danny Hill.

Detective Sergeant Dave Tye told the court police had not been able to trace the money.

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He said both Kevin and Danny Hill were arrested and questioned but there was insufficient evidence to charge either of them in connection with handling the stolen money.

He said investigations revealed in the weeks after the theft, Danny Hill, 23, who has previous convictions for robbery and handling stolen goods, had spent thousands of pounds on a new car, computer, plasma TV and a deposit on a rented flat.

But his father told police he had given his son money inherited from the death of a relative the year before.

Both Kevin Hill and Danny Hill were at the court for the confiscation hearing but the Crown declined to call them to give evidence.

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After the hearing Eastbourne CID chief, Detective Inspector Ian Williams, said, "While I am disappointed with the penalty imposed on Miss Drage, I fully understand the position the court has been placed in by the law.

"She is the one who stole the money and should therefore be held ultimately responsible. However, she chose late in the day to tell us what happened to the money by blaming others. This has been investigated thoroughly and whilst there is some support for her story it is far from conclusive.

"She can only be said from the evidence to have benefited by a fraction of the amount stolen and this she must pay back.

"We will continue to investigate this matter and look at the spending habits of those involved."

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