A 19 year old discovered that her father and her aunt were the culprits of a recent burglary caught on CCTV, and was so ashamed that she shopped them to the police herself. The criminal pair was recorded breaking into Marlene Scott’s home back in March.
Cora Patterson, saw a police call out on a local Facebook group as they tried to identify the pair, and immediately recognised her father and aunt—Colin Patterson and Janine Patterson as the culprits.
While she felt it was the right thing to do, it was undoubtedly emotionally difficult, as it would land her Dad in jail and he had recently promised to turn over a new leaf after finding out Cora was pregnant.
He promised the good news would be a turning point for him, and a fresh start, but that promise turned out to be short lived.
Cora was used to her Dad being in trouble, with him spending much of her childhood away or in prison, and despite the odd visit to the cinema he was never a constant presence in her life.
Cora said:
“I stayed in touch with him because he was still my dad, and I always had the hope that he might come good.”
Those hopes were in vein though, as less than a month after finding out he was going to become a grandfather, Colin burgled the home of Marlene Scott along with his sister, Janine.
Among the items taken from Marlene’s home, was some jewellery that was given to Stott on her 21st birthday by her parents before they died, and a swimming medal that belonged to her mother.
These clearly had tremendous sentimental value, and left Cora feeling so angry and ashamed that she felt no guilt in giving her family member’s details over to the police.
Shockingly, when her Dad found out what she had done, instead of taking responsibility he sent her a suicide text, but after some initial worry, Cora realised that her father was merely seeking attention, as the pair exchanged text messages.
During his trial, it was found that Colin had 34 previous convictions for burglary, but Judge Timothy Stead was full of praise for his daughter, saying that “it is always commendable when a member of the public assists the police, but especially when it is members of their own family.”
Colin received a 4 year jail sentence for his crimes, while Janine was handed a 30 month term on top of a 6 month term for a previous crime for which she had a suspended sentence.
Speaking of her actions, Cora is quoted as saying:
“It breaks my heart that my baby will grow up without a granddad. Putting my own father in prison was the hardest thing I have ever done but it was the right thing to do.”
She emphasised that she has nothing to feel guilty about, and that her Dad had let her down once too often, and deserved no part in her unborn baby’s life.