A teenage Argos worker sold herself a brand new iPhone for just 25p in an idiotic fraud scam that landed her in court.
Ashleigh Handley, 19, of Kirkburn Close in Dingle , was working at the catalogue store in Liverpool's New Mersey Retail Park when she scammed the company out of thousands.
Appearing in Liverpool Magistrates Court today supported by her mum and dad, the teenage shop worker pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud dating back to December 2017.
Handley's bungling frauds started on a smaller scale - issuing refunds for lower-value electrical items and designer watches.
However, within a matter of weeks she was transferring a £5,000 "refund" into her own bank account and reducing Apple goods to pennies through the tills.
Liverpool Magistrates Court heard today that her first fraud occurred back in December 2017, when she issued a £180 cash refund for an iPad.
One week later, on January 7, 2018, she overrode the cost of a £130 Armani Exchange watch to just £1.
Her outrageous reductions scam continued on February 2, when an iPhone 8 was knocked down from £909 to just £14.96.
The charges read out in court today also included an Apple Watch worth £299 which Handley sold for 50p, and an iPhone worth £1,109 that she sold for 25p.
Both these fraudulent reductions were put through the tills of the retail park store on February 17 - and the next day Handley "refunded" £5,000 for an iPhone X into her own bank account.
Presiding over today's hearing, magistrate Mark Heron adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be compiled.
He said: "There are six charges, you pleaded guilty to all, and we need to proceed to sentence. Before we do so, we need more information about you so probation can provide a pre-sentence report."
Handley previously appeared at Wirral Magistrates Court on May 13, where she pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The court was told today that she was of otherwise good character and had no previous convictions.
