A MUM has admitted a series of counts of lying about her child being involved in a serious accident to get money for drugs.

Gemma Marie Dean, 28, admitted taking £50 from an elderly woman over two separate visits.

Dean, of Methuen Oval, Wyke, pleaded guilty to a total of three charges of fraud by false representation when she appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court yesterday.

On February 26, Dean entered a sweet shop in Wyke and claimed her six-year-old son was "alone in hospital" after an accident.

She asked if the shop worker could lend her money to get to the hospital, and she would re-pay it the following day. She was given £15 and did not return.

On February 28 she knocked on the door of a house in Wyke Lane, and when the owners opened the door she told them a similar story and that her son needed family around him. She was given £3.

On the same day she knocked on the door of an elderly and "somewhat vulnerable" woman in Wyke Crescent.

Vince O'Malley, prosecuting, said: "The woman said the defendant was hysterical. The same excuse was used, that her six-year-old son was in hospital after an accident."

She was given £20 and said she would come back to repay it.

Dean returned the next day with a baby, and was invited in for tea. She said she had hoped to re-pay the woman with money borrowed from her neighbour, who knew the defendant and the victim, but that they only had a £50 note.

The victim gave her £30 and said Dean could then give her the £50 note. She went to fetch it, but did not return. The victim's son later went to see the defendant and discovered her son was not in hospital.

In an interview with police, Dean said she had used the money for drugs.

Sarah Carter, mitigating for Dean, said the frauds were "not sophisticated" and that she had left her details with the victims.

She added: "She accepts her child wasn't in the hospital at this time."

She said Dean made up the lie so she could get money for drugs, adding: "She felt that if she had gone into the shop asking for money for drugs she wouldn't have been given any."

She said Dean had gone to Wyke Crescent to borrow money from a grandmother of one of her children, but she was not there, leading to her knocking on the door of the elderly victim.

District Judge Susan Bouch warned Dean her crimes could lead to a prison sentence and adjourned the case for a probation report.

Dean was released on bail to be sentenced on May 8.