by Keith Hunt

A granny is facing jail after being drawn into a bizarre April Fools Day plot to defraud a bank out of almost £10,000 in foreign currency.

Jane Grant went into the Halifax Bank in Sittingbourne after an internet request had been made for the Australian and Canadian dollars in the name of a customer called McConnell.

Anne Phillips, prosecuting, said the bank’s fraud team had already contacted the McConnell family to check if the request was genuine.

When told no such request had been made, the police were contacted.

Grant, 63, posed as Mrs McConnell on April 1, and produced a driving licence with her photograph on it in that name as proof.

She also had a bank card in the same name.

When confronted at the bank, she admitted: “Alright, you’ve got me.”

Mrs Phillips told Maidstone Crown Court Grant, also known as Twort, claimed she had been contacted by her granddaughter’s ex-boyfriend and was told to go to Sittingbourne railway station.

When she arrived, the man handed her an envelope with the driving licence, bank card and other papers inside.

Grant said she was told to go to the bank, hand over the documents and pick up the currency. She did not think it was suspicious.

As she walked down the High Street, the man walked in front of her. He waited outside the bank.

Grant, of Dover House, Drawbridge Close, Maidstone, admitted possessing false identity documents with intent.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC described it as “an extraordinary story” adding her actions were puzzling.

Oliver Saxby, defending, said he appreciated the court would say it was just dishonest, but she was the sort of person who would believe what she had been told.

Mr Saxby said Grant had serious blood pressure and kidney problems.

The judge said the offence crossed the custody threshold but in the extraordinary circumstances, a report would be helpful.

Adjourning sentence until the week beginning June 14 and granting unconditional bail, he still warned: “You should not expect anything less than a prison sentence.”