A WOMAN who stole and spent her sister's inheritance after the death of their mum has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Denise Anne Davenport, aged 33, of Gleneagles, Deane, pleaded guilty to theft at an earlier hearing and was today sentenced to 40 weeks in jail suspended for 12 months.

She must also do 240 hours of unpaid work, a Bolton Crown Court judge has ruled.

In September 2009, Denise Davenport's grandfather Jack Singleton, died.

Under the provisions of his will, his two daughters, Julie Davenport and her sister, each inherited a 50 percent share of his estate.

Julie Davenport was Denise's mum, but she also died in October 2009 before her share of her father's estate had passed to her in person.

Under the intestacy rules, her estate, including her share of her father's estate, would have been shared with her two daughters, Denise Davenport and Denise Davenport's sister.

In the weeks and months following Julie's death, Denise begin to pester her aunt for money as she knew she was entitled to half her mum's estate.

In March 2010, Julie Davenport's share of the estate was paid into a solicitor's account and Denise Davenport was made the appointed administrator.

A month later, she withdrew the money from the account, more than £25,000 in total.

Denise Davenport was sent a letter from the solicitors, setting out her obligations that she had to pay any debts from her mother's estate before sharing the £25,000 equally with her sister.

However, by May of 2010, the solicitors became aware that Denise Davenport had not paid her sister any of the money, and repeatedly chased her to rectify the situation, which she failed to do.

In August 2010, following a legal application, the solicitor's firm took over administration of the estate of Julie Davenport and complained to police that Denise Davenport had stolen the share of the estate her sister was entitled to.

Inquiries by police revealed that Denise Davenport had deposited the cash in a current account and then spread it around other accounts in her name and spent it, often in shops.

She was arrested in January 2011.

Det Con Pam Chandler said: "Denise Davenport was legally entitled to half her mother's estate – roughly £12,700 – but she had no legal right to the other half which belonged to her sister.

"However, Denise Davenport effectively stole this money from her sister, kept it to herself and spent it – the bulk of which was spent in shops.

"This is a very sad case involving complicated personal relationships, but that should not detract from the fact that Denise Davenport deliberately deprived her sister of money she was legally entitled to, which is a criminal offence."