Heywood woman steals jewellery from friend's corpse

Shirley Aitken, 66, pleaded guilty in Portland Magistrates Court last week to charges, including offensive behaviour involving human remains.

On February 21 she was convicted and placed on a 12-month community correction order.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge previously said the order would reflect "the fact this was disgraceful offending".

Earlier: A Heywood woman has admitted to stealing jewellery from the corpse of a friend during her final goodbye.

Shirley Aitken, 66, pleaded guilty in Portland Magistrates Court on February 14 to charges, including theft, trespass and offensive behaviour involving human remains.

A 71-year-old co-accused appeared in the same court where he pleaded guilty to trespass, theft of a motor vehicle and possessing a prohibited weapon.

The man has maintained he had nothing to do with the theft of jewellery.

The court heard the pair attended the female victim's Heywood unit on July 24, 2021 to perform a welfare check after failing to hear from her that day.

Aitken entered the unit to find her friend deceased.

The man called Triple-0 and police and ambulance attended the scene.

Police determined it was a non-suspicious death and while the undertaker was on his way, the man and woman were allowed to say their final goodbyes.

The court heard Aitken used the opportunity to remove a gold bracelet and silver watch from the woman's corpse.

Police then left the property.

The pair returned to the unit a number of times throughout the afternoon, removing a large number of items, including a stereo unit, teddy bears, a fridge and statues.

A vehicle was also stolen from the victim's unit and driven by the male to Aitkens' address but later returned.

The deceased woman's daughter raised concerns the following day after noticing items were missing.

Police executed a search warrant at Aitken's home on July 26 and recovered the majority of the stolen items, the court heard.

A search of the man's property located a black sword, which is considered a prohibited weapon.

The pair was arrested at the Portland police station by appointment.

A police prosecutor said the offending caused the family of the victim an "immense amount of pain and suffering".

He said the grieving process after the loss of a sister and mother was hampered due to the theft of sentimental items and the family felt "great disgust" at Aitken interfering with the victim's body.

Lawyer Vanessa Focken, representing Aitken, said it was a very serious and unusual matter.

She said Aitken and the victim were so close they called themselves sisters, and that her client's background made it difficult to cope in times of great stress.

"It was a big shock to see her friend dead," Ms Focken said.

"She was shaking in disbelief."

But magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said a person would need to have a "very, very substantial impairment" to not realise taking jewellery off a dead body was wrong.

Ms Focken said Aitken had since indicated her deep regret for what happened and the impact it had on the deceased's family.

She said following media coverage of the charges, Aitken had become withdrawn, was afraid of people and avoided going out in public.

Aitken also pleaded guilty to driving while suspended.

Julia Ray, representing the male offender, said her client had shown significant remorse for his actions, which she referred to as being "misplaced" and in the context of having a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder.

She said the man and the deceased were close friends, that some of the items, including the fridge, belonged to him and he often drove her vehicle.

The court heard both Aitken and the co-accused had no prior criminal history.

The magistrate said it was fortunate the man had driven the vehicle and did not steal it with the intention of depriving the victim's estate, putting the theft charge in a "much less light".

He said while there was "certainly an unpleasantness" surrounding the man's actions, they weren't met with the same features of aggravation accompanying Aitken's offending.

The man was placed on a good behaviour bond without conviction.

Mr Lethbridge ordered Aitken be assessed for a community correction order, which he said would reflect "the fact this was disgraceful offending".

"This was something that represented a gross breach of trust not only to the deceased's family but also to the deceased herself, who you claimed to be a close friend of," he said.

Aitken will be sentenced on February 21.

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