Star News
'Head shave' scammer Marita Rimaitis avoids prison sentence
4:21pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012
A CONWOMAN who scammed hundreds of kind hearted neighbours has walked free from court after being handed a suspended jail sentence.
Marita Rimaitis, 23, of Ramford Street in Parr, admitted four counts of fraud, with 94 similar offences taken into consideration at an earlier hearing at Knowsley Magistrates’ Court.
She would prey on unsuspecting neighbours by weaving a web of lies, claiming that she was either having her head shaved or training to take part in a 17.5mile sponsored run in aid of Cancer Research.
Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, Rimaitis clutched a folder and wept as she sat in the dock at Knowsley Magistrates’ Court to hear her sentence.
After reports of the swindle featured in the Star, the net began to tighten when police received two reports from neighbours in Haydock of a woman collecting for charity.
Mike Cain, prosecuting said when she was stopped she was wearing an ID badge from NCC on Alexandra Business Park in St Helens.
He explained: “She indicated that colleagues were taking part in the run and at the time had in her possession two sponsorship forms with more than 100 names showing various amounts.
“Police spoke to her manager at NCC who confirmed she had previously worked there in July 2011 but her employment was terminated in October last year.
“In October she had dark hair, but following the articles in the St Helens Star, it made residents aware of the potential fraud.
“In panic she changed her hair colour to blonde and said she didn’t want to carry on with the fraud. However she became more and more desperate and went out numerous times to more than 200 addresses.”
In police interview, Rimaitis said she was desperate for money to pay for food, bills and heroin.
Mr Cain added: “She would work out how much she would need for the next few days and obtained that amount from the people of St Helens. On average she made around £34 a night.
“Police said that during interview she said she was very sorry for her actions and felt ashamed and worried about what her family would say. She said there were issues around drugs and depression.”
Rimaitis was initially handed a 12 week jail sentence, which was reduced to two months for her early guilty plea.
This was subsequently suspended for a year and she was also given a 12 month supervision order.
She must also attend a drugs rehabilitation programme. Mr Cain said it would be difficult to trace everyone who donated money, so an average price was calculated for each of the offences, plus the 94 taken into consideration and magistrates ruled she was must pay £441 to Cancer Research. This will be deducted from her benefits.