A JAILED scrap metal thief has been hit by a five-figure cash blow.

Eileen Hughes, 51, of Blanchard Road, Bishop's Waltham, was jailed for 12 months last July after a conviction for seven thefts.

The Financial Investigations Unit applied for the forfeiture of seized cash in the sum of £17,966.13 plus any accrued interest, under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The order was granted at Southampton Magistrates' Court in on April 28.

Hughes was not present in court for the confiscation hearing.

At her sentencing last July, Southampton Crown Court was told that she committed a string of thefts across the Winchester, Fareham, Gosport and Hayling Island areas.

In the Winchester district the thefts were carried out in Shedfield and Knowle.

The offences were committed whilst she was serving an 18-month community order imposed in November 2020 for previous thefts in Southampton and Swanmore.

Speaking after the sentencing, PC Sharon Conway said: “Eileen Hughes has been a perennial nuisance across the county for months. She has brazenly approached people’s properties and stolen items, become aggressive when challenged, and shown no regard whatsoever to previous court orders imposed against her."