A KIND stranger transferred hundreds of pounds to a homeless woman he met in the street after she was allegedly threatened by a man in Texaco.

The man alleged to have made threats, Wezley McGregor, was this week jailed for a month after admitting theft.

Swindon Crown Court heard the 33-year-old had been given £500 by the woman after the money was transferred by the victim of the theft. It was suggested McGregor and the woman were working together.

Prosecutor Christopher Wing said the victim had met the woman a few days earlier. She was homeless and had asked him for money. He gave her £20.

A few days later he received a text message from her asking for more money. The man suggested she may have found his number via Facebook. Over the next few days he transferred roughly £1,000 into her bank account.

The pair arranged to meet at a Texaco garage on June 10. Mr Wing said: “His recollection is that the defendant approached saying she owed him money.” McGregor was said to have threatened “Oi b****, you owe me money” and claimed she owed £300. The man transferred funds to the woman.

In a basis of plea, McGregor denied making threats. He said together with the woman, his former girlfriend, he had dishonestly obtained money from his victim by exaggerating the size of the debt she owed him. She had later given him £500, he said.

Mr Wing said the woman had initially given a statement to police but later retracted it and had not engaged with the prosecution since.

McGregor answered no comment to all questions asked of him after he was arrested on June 20. He was initially charged with blackmail, but Mr Wing said the Crown was content to accept a charge of theft.

Defending, Tony Bignall said his client had spent two months on remand – the equivalent of a four month sentence, significantly more than he would have expected to receive for theft.

McGregor had managed to reduce his intake of drug substitute methadone while in prison. The defendant, who has never held down a full-time job, had a talent for cooking and was interested in gym work.

Mr Bignall said: “He’s looking forward to a crime-free life.”

Appearing before Swindon Crown Court via video link from Bullingdon prison, McGregor, of Drakes Way, Walcot, pleaded guilty to theft.

Judge Jason Taylor QC sentenced him to one months’ imprisonment. He said: “You have made good progress when you have been in custody. When you come out, I hope you can make the progress you have started to already.”

A formal not guilty verdict was returned for the blackmail charge.