A FURTHER charge has been admitted by a woman found to be in possession of part of the proceeds of a New Year’s shop robbery.

Kenneth Liam McGregor, 30, and a 16-year-old male accomplice previously pleaded guilty to robbing a female assistant of money at McColl’s, in Evenwood, County Durham, shortly before 9.30pm on January 1.

During the recent hearing at Durham Crown Court McGregor, of Hambleton Road, Coundon, also admitted aggravated taking of a Fiat Punto, which was involved in a collision with a Peugeot station wagon, driving while disqualified, on the A690 on the outskirts of Durham, and damaging a cell at the city police station, following his arrest in the early hours of January 2.

The 16-year-old also admitted being carried in an aggravatedly-taken vehicle.

A third defendant, 25-year-old Shelby Cliff, of Oakley Green, West Auckland, denied handling money stolen in the robbery at McColl’s.

But she admitted having a bladed weapon in public, a knife, in Coupland Way, Stonebridge, Durham, after the collision on January 2.

A provisional trial date for the charges denied at the previous hearing was set for June 2, but the case has now come back to court, where a new money laundering offence was put to Cliff, to replace the handling count.

She admitted possessing criminal property, several hundreds of pounds, representing part or whole of criminal conduct.

It was said to be about a third of the overall amount taken in the McColl’s robbery.

The money was recovered with the knife from her purse and bag when they were searched after her arrest, following the collision.

But her counsel, Dan Cordey, said her guilty plea was made on the basis that she was in the Punto at the time of the accident, on January 2, and in getting out of the damaged vehicle she was asked to grab the money.

Mr Cordey added that in doing so, she was unaware from where the money originated.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said the plea was acceptable to the Crown and the case could now proceed for sentence.

Judge James Adkin adjourned for sentence of all three defendants to take place at the court on Thursday March 19, with, now, no need for the June 2 trial.

The judge asked for probation reports to be prepared on all three defendants prior to the March 19 hearing.