A MET Police officer who splurged £300 on Deliveroo and Amazon using a bank card she stole from a dead woman has been jailed.
Amelia Lancaster, 28, took the card from a hotel guest who had died in her room after taking her own life.
The shameful cop racked up a bill of more than £300 on Deliveroo and Amazon products from a dead woman’s card[/caption]
She had also stolen details from four other people in the past, including her flatmate[/caption]
Lancaster, based at Wimbledon Police Station, used the dead woman’s card to make £302.51 worth of fraudulent purchases between October 31 and November 16 in 2022.
The disgraced cop has now been jailed for 20 months and has been ordered to pay compensation to her victims.
While Lancaster had turned over body camera off, a colleague’s device captured her holding the woman’s card in one hand and her own mobile phone in another.
Hamish Common, prosecuting, said it was safe to assume the cop had taken a picture of the card.
The dead woman’s brother, who is a serving Met Police officer, referred to only as PC Hancock in court, discovered his sister’s card was being used just two days after her funeral.
He read a powerful victim impact statement to the court, saying he discovered the fraud “just two days after one of the worst days of my life”.
PC Hancock added: “I cannot comprehend how morally bankrupt one must be to steal from the dead.
“The person sent to help her betrayed everything they stood for.
“You have tainted the memories I had of her and you have stolen any closure my family had.”
The woman’s mother, Alina Callender, described the theft as “deepening the wound and prolonging the grief.”
She said: “You had seen her at her most vulnerable.
“I feel disgust at what I consider to be a violation.
“I cannot understand you and yet I do nonetheless feel pity for you.”
Holding back tears, Alina added: “I hope that one day you sincerely regret the actions that have bought you here today.
“We have lost our daughter, sister, niece and friend in devastating circumstances and you made that pain worse.”
Lancaster bought beauty creams, bath and shower gels, socks, books, an exercise mat, an Arsenal keyring, and other purchases on Amazon, as well as a series of takeaway meals through Deliveroo.
She had also used the bank card details of four other people, including her flatmate, between May 29, 2021, and August 8, 2022, to spend another £302.40.
Her crimes went undetected and she transferred to West Yorkshire Police in Bradford after serving for two and a half years with the Met.
The shamed cop also stole a personal trainer’s bank card in an attempt to buy vaping products.
She had befriended the gym’s owner and had been allowed access to the staff room when she attended classes.
Lancaster’s fraudulent behaviour came to light after the victim received an alert from his bank saying that his card was being used for a series of attempted £5 purchases from a nearby vaping shop.
After receiving the alert on September 7, 2023, he reported his concerns to the gym owner, with the pair then journeying to the shop to investigate.
There, they found CCTV stills which identified Lancaster as the one using the bank card.
She had also taken his card on a previous occasion a week prior, with the victim having lost £25 in total across three thefts.
‘YOU BETRAYED THE TRUST OF THE PUBLIC’
Tom Orpin-Massey, defending, told the court the other cards had been lost by members of the public and had been handed in to the police.
He explained that Lancaster had taken them from lost property and then photographed the cards.
Lancaster expressed “remorse” and had dreamed of becoming a police officer since she was young, he said.
However, she was “not cut out for it” and she had been “profoundly damaged” by a series of “traumatic incidents” she had dealt with while on duty.
Orpin-Massey said there was evidence the shamed officer suffered from PTSD and depression.
Lancaster, of Baildon, West Yorkshire, was arrested on October 19, 2023, and later sacked from West Yorkshire Police after a panel at a disciplinary hearing in Wakefield found her guilt of gross misconduct.
She admitted four counts of fraud by false representation and misconduct in public office at Kingston Crown Court.
Judge Peter Lodder, KC, told Lancaster: “As a serving Police Officer you enjoyed the trust of the public.
“You betrayed that trust, accurately described by Ms Callender, by showing neither compassion or a sense of duty’
“There can be no doubt even with your medical problems that you knew what you were doing.
“Your own life has been ruined by this behaviour.”
Lancaster was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and was ordered to both compensate her victims and pay a victim surcharge of £187.
Disgraced cop Amelia Lancaster has been jailed for 20 months after she stole a dead woman’s card and racked up a £300 bill on Deliveroo and Amazon[/caption]
