A woman who stole almost $7000 from her 85-year-old grandmother to buy drugs and pay off debt concedes it was wrong, but said it was “easy money”.

Lana Maree Saunders, her partner and their six children moved back from Australia and into her grandmother’s home in 2020.

The 32-year-old’s offending deceit started when she asked to borrow some money and her grandmother handed over her Eftpos card and pin. Saunder went on to use the card numerous times after that to purchase nearly $7000 worth of items and she also used her car as security on finance.

But her crimes didn’t end there. While out on bail she stole from several shops, all with a child in tow.

Saunders, who has a history of dishonesty offending, tried to minimise her behaviour when she appeared in the Nelson District Court this week by suggesting “other family members” had taken from the grandmother, and that what she had had taken was “probably the lowest”.

Her sentencing presented as a challenge as it needed to reflect the “severe breach of trust” while not placing her children, who all depend on her, at risk.

“If today is not a turning point in your life, then tomorrow needs to be,” Judge Jo Rielly told Saunders told her.

When Saunders first asked her grandmother for $50 cash, she offered to pay it back. Because it was night time, the grandmother handed over her Eftpos card and the personal identification number.

Between February 8 and March 15, 2021, Saunders used the card nine times to purchase items worth $6900, all without the grandmother’s permission.

Judge Rielly said Saunders made no effort to pay back the money.

Her lawyer, Ian Miller, said the money was used to buy methamphetamine and cover existing debts.

On September 21 she and her partner used her grandmother’s vehicle as security to raise more than $3000 in finance from a lending firm.

Saunders said she had power of attorney over her grandmother’s affairs when she did not, Judge Rielly said.

She added that the signatures on the documents were forged and therefore Saunders was lucky not to face additional charges related to that.

In February and March this year, while Saunders was on bail, she went on a shoplifting binge, each time pushing a child in a pushchair.

Saunders stole $120 worth of clothing from Farmers, $142 in art supplies from Paper Plus in Nelson, $499 of items from a Farmlands store in Richmond plus $100 worth of stationery and ornaments from the variety store Hello Banana in Nelson.

Judge Rielly said an aggravating feature of the shoplifting was that Saunders had a young child with her on each occasion.

She noted that Saunders now had seven children with the arrival of a new baby this year.

“I don’t underestimate how challenging it must be bringing up seven children,” Judge Rielly said.

However, she told Saunders she owed it to them to improve her lifestyle.

“It seems to me you get yourself on toa path of dishonest behaviour perhaps in times of stress,” Judge Rielly said.

She said Saunders’ offending meant prison was a sentencing option, but her grandmother who was “very cross” about what happened did not want that and neither would it benefit the seven children.

“The court is hamstrung about how to sentence you. If I sentence you to home detention that will also have a negative impact on the lives of your children.”

Judge Rielly sentenced her to six months of community detentionwith 18 months of intensive supervision on charges of theft, using a document, four charges of shoplifting and a charge of breach of supervision. She also made a $6900 reparation order to formalise Saunders’ agreement to repay her grandmother.

She was also made subject to judicial monitoring and was warned that if she failed to comply she would have to be recalled for sentencing at which point prison was the likely outcome.

“From now on, every decision you make needs to be honest and have a positive influence on your children,” Judge Rielly said.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.