A GWENT woman was led away in tears by court security guards yesterday after she was jailed for stealing more than £4,500 from her best friend.

Former Lloyds TSB team leader Heather Elaine Powell, 34, from Howe Circle, Coldra, Newport, wept after magistrates sent her to prison for three months.

Her victim Kim Lewis, 41, from Waltwood Road, Underwood, said after the court hearing that fellow mother-of-two Powell had put her and her family "through hell."

Powell had tried to kill herself as a result of her crime, and Newport magistrates heard how she was found in woodland by her husband after trying to take an overdose.

She had already admitted in August to stealing the money from Mrs Lewis while the two were neighbours in Waltwood Road.

Prosecutor Gareth James said a "vulnerable" Mrs Lewis asked Powell to look after her financial affairs because she was going through a divorce and had been used to her husband dealing with money.

Powell then took over the day-to-day running of her friend's financial affairs with Mrs Lewis "trusting her implicitly."

Accessing secure banking information and using credit cards and store cards without permission, Powell stole £4,556.04 over a nine-month period starting in September, 2003.

Mrs Lewis had suffered "serious depression" as a result of the theft, the court heard.

She had become "rigid with fear" when she recently almost came face-to-face with Powell.

Michael Heames, for Powell, said her remorse "is very real."

He said Powell and her family had already paid back £1,000 to the victim and were prepared to re-pay the outstanding amount within seven days. Mr Heames said Powell and her family were planning to leave Wales to start a new life in southern Spain where her husband had secured a job as a welder.

Speaking of Powell's suicide attempt, he said: "If her husband had not got there in time, she would have been dead. It was a very close run thing." Appealing for magistrates not to impose a custodial sentence, he said: "She has learned her lesson big time - she almost paid for it with her own life."

However, chairman of the magistrates, Colin Richards, told Powell she had committed a breach of trust.

He said: "After much consideration we feel the offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be appropriate."

An appeal against the sentence was immediately lodged by Mr Heames.