Burglars were 'retrieving items'

Ben Needham's family are still hopeful they may find him

A mother and daughter have denied stealing thousands of pounds raised to find a missing child.

Alison, 23, and Joan Jarvis, 49, are accused of taking around £23,000 collected to search for Ben Needham, who disappeared on Kos in 1991.

The two women, from Wrexham, north Wales, have admitted burgling the Needhams' home in Legsby, Lincolnshire.

But they claim they were in the house for only 15 minutes and deny ransacking the house in a search for the money.

'Stupid' action

It is alleged the pair "trashed" the family home on 29 May 2003 and took up to £27,000, including the £23,000 saved to fund the search for missing Sheffield boy Ben.

On Friday, Lincoln Crown Court heard Alison Jarvis claim she was "gobsmacked" when police charged her with stealing the money.

Alison, the ex-fiancée of Ben's uncle Danny, and her mother had travelled from Wrexham to the house, she said, in order to get personal belongings left at there after the couple split up.

The defendant said she went to the house to retrieve a silver necklace, a watch and some CDs and clothes.

She added that "stupidly" she had also stolen an XBox games console out of spite for the times Danny Needham had ignored her while playing games.

Alison also denied ever going into the bedroom where the money was kept or even knowing anything the cash existed.

The court also heard she denied that, while on a night out in Wrexham, she had confessed to the theft.

The pair are due to be sentenced following a trial of issue to decide whether they took the money.