An Aberdeen woman stole her friend’s ring while helping look after her dying husband.
Deborah Murray took the £1,800 band while she was at her pal’s house in Cove Bay in March 2017.
The two women had been close for a number of years and Murray, 47, had been assisting with care for her friend’s sick husband.
She was caught when she wore the ring to a social event her friend also happened to be attending.
Murray admitted stealing the jewellery when she appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.
Fiscal depute John Richardson said: “The ring was stolen from the owner while the accused was visiting.
“The parties were then friends but I suspect they no longer are.”
Murray’s solicitor John McLeod said: “They were friends of some long standing.
“The two were well known to each other and were emotionally invested in each other.
“Her husband was dying at the time, and these ladies were jointly caring for this man.”
Mr McLeod told the court that Murray initially stole the jewellery “without a clear idea”, then “hung on and hung on” to it.
When her friend spotted the ring during the night out, Murray confessed to taking it.
He added that Murray, of South Avenue, Cults, was “ashamed” and “didn’t know what on earth” she was thinking at the time of the theft.
Sheriff Charlotte Coutts said she took into account her “remorse” and fined her £250.
