AN accomplished fraudster who tried to buy a new car on her housemate’s plastic has walked free from court.

Victoria Grieve went to buy a trendy Fiat 500 during a spate of fraud which saw her cheat friends, family and colleagues out of thousands of pounds.

But after hearing the 20-year-old was suffering from traumatic experiences in her upbringing, a judge decided not to jail her.

Instead he ordered she complete 200 hours of community service and accept treatment for her mental health under a suspended sentence.

Grieve, formerly of West Swindon, went on a spree of 50 offences between 2012 and July this year.

During that time, as well as trying to buy the car, she also tried to get a Wonga loan in a friend’s name and used other people’s plastic for her shopping She even got the details of a colleague’s bank account when the woman left her bag unattended at work to go to the toilet.

On another occasion she used a former boyfriend’s plastic to hire a car, leaving him to foot the bill when she returned it damaged.

Tim Hills, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that while the offending totalled more than £25,000 she only actually got her hands on £8,545.59.

As well as failing to arrange the £11,408 finance for the car she also unsuccessfully applied for a loan of £5,088 from Wonga.com.

However, she did use the cards of friends and colleagues to pay a deposit on a new sofa, hire cars and book hotel rooms.

She also went on spending sprees at Miss Selfridge, Boots, iTunes, Thomas Cook, Cineworld, and Domino’s Pizza.

“The most significant use was to apply for a loan of £11,408 for a brand new Fiat 500 motor car,” Mr Hills said.

He said her mum only found out she had been given as a guarantor when she found paperwork at the house after the application had been rejected.

In July this year she even used her own father’s credit card to pay for a room at the Jury’s Inn hotel in the town centre.

Grieve, who gave the court her grandparents’ address in Harewood, Middlesex, admitted six counts of fraud and asked for 44 others to be taken into consideration.

Stephen Parker, defending, said his client had suffered mental health problems as a result of traumatic incidents in her life.

“The behaviour is primarily motivated by the particularly sad background she has had,” he said.

He urged the court to impose a suspended sentence to allow her to receive treatment, pointing out she had spent some time in custody following her arrest.

And although she is out of work and has no savings, he said she was keen to repay what she had taken.

Passing sentence, Judge Tim Mousley QC said: “This is the clearest case of a pattern of dishonest behaviour on your part. It was easy for you and you found it irresistible. As I said on the last occasion, you showed yourself to be an accomplished fraudster and I note this rider: you were not always successful and the sums you obtained were relatively small.

“These offences are serious for many, many reasons. Uppermost among those is the gross advantage you took of those who were closest to you, particularly your family, but also your friends and work colleagues.

“The second reason: this offending was clearly planned and you were prepared to offend, and offend, and offend, whenever you saw an opportunity to get small sums of money.”

He imposed a 12 month jail term suspended for two years with the unpaid work and mental health requirement.