Girl aged 11 stole pounds 2,500 from bank 'for sweets'

THE MOTHER of an 11-year- old girl sentenced yesterday to two years' detention for robbing pounds 2,500 from a bank said that her daughter was looking for money for sweets, writes John Arlidge.

The girl, who cannot be named, reached under a perspex security screen at a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Dundee to grab the money in a bag of notes. She hid the haul under her coat and made off with a 12- year-old boy.

The pair spent about pounds 1,500 in shops and amusement arcades before being arrested. Almost pounds 1,000 was found in the girl's bedroom.

Sentence on the boy for handling stolen money was referred to a juvenile court.