A PONTYPOOL woman found not guilty of stealing from a charity said she had tried to take her own life following the accusation.

A jury acquitted Mandy Gilgrass, aged 51, in just 45 minutes yesterday after her trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

She was accused of pocketing a £360 donation given to the St David's Hospice charity shop on Hanbury Road, Pontypool, in December 2012.

Keen darts player Ms Gilgrass, of Sid Griffith's Court in Pontypool, maintained her innocence throughout.

Police became involved after Deborah Probert came into the shop with a collection raised in memory of her mother and gave the money to Ms Gilgrass, who was filling in for a shift as assistant manager.

But she became concerned when she received no acknowledgement of her donation in the post.

Ms Gilgrass denied taking the money, saying she had left it in a safe at the shop as she was advised to.

The court heard she joined the shop in 2007 to complete 150 hours of unpaid work imposed after she took job at Tesco but continued to claim unemployment benefits.

She stayed on at the shop for six years working her way into a paid position.

Following her acquittal, Ms Gilgrass said the two and a half years since the accusation had been incredibly stressful and she had received counselling and taken medication for depression, anxiety and weight loss.

“I denied it right from day one,” she said. “I even tried to take my own life over this. I loved the job - I loved meeting people, it was local and it kept me occupied.

“This trial has taken its toll on me. Just before Christmas I couldn’t take anymore. It all stems from this.”

She said people locally assumed she was a thief: “Not long after the accusation two women stopped me in town and said, ‘You don’t work in the shop no more. That’s because you got caught stealing.’ I just flipped. It comes to something when I can’t even walk in the street in Pontypool without people calling me a thief.”

Her friend Ann Ellis, who runs the Twyn-y-Ffrwd Inn in Pontypool, came to court to support her during the trial. She said: “She knew she hadn’t done it and wouldn’t do it, but Mandy takes everything to heart. I said, ‘Just try and take no notice.’”

Ms Gilgrass said she just wanted to try and get back to a normal life following the acquittal.