Two women have been sentenced to community service for defrauding £17,000 from an elderly man who believed they were his friends.

Shannon Bellas (26) and Amanda Louis (53) have been sentenced to 240 hours of community service each and have been ordered to pay the victim back by the Royal Court.

Bellas will pay £400 per month and Louis will pay £350 until they have paid back the entire amount.

Failing to pay the money back will result in a six month prison sentence.

The pair persistently lied to the 83-year-old man, telling him they needed financial help.

Between April 2019 and November 2020, they defrauded the victim of £17,344.

Bellas received over £11,000 from the victim, across more than 100 payments ranging from £30 up to £200.

She continued persisting that he send her money, despite the victim telling her that he was struggling on a small pension. On one occasion, she sent him 22 texts pushing for an £80 loan.

Louis, who continuously lied to the victim about needing money for travel or living expenses, defrauded him of more than £6,000 across 44 payments.

The court decided against sending the women to prison so they could keep their jobs in order to pay the victim back.

Detective Inspector Aiden Quenault from the Joint Financial Crime Unit said:

"This case demonstrates the lengths that fraudsters will go to in order to obtain money for their own gain, no matter who the victim. It serves as a reminder that although the defendants in this case targeted a specific individual, everyone in the community needs to be vigilant to the potential of being the victim of fraud.

The details of who, why and when should always be checked where money is being sent, loaned or transferred to anyone else."