Women stole 'missing child' funds

Ben disappeared from outside a farmhouse on the island of Kos

A mother and daughter who stole nearly £23,000 raised to help find a missing child who vanished from Greece, have been jailed for nearly four years.

Alison and Joan Jarvis, from Wrexham, took around £23,000 from the house of Ben Needham's grandparents.

Ben disappeared while on a family holiday on the island of Kos in 1991. His whereabouts have never been traced.

Outside Lincoln Crown Court, his family described the theft as "callous".

The pair were jailed for three years and nine months after admitting burglary but denying taking the money.

The court had heard how the two women "trashed" the family home near Market Rasen in May last year taking up to £27,000, including the £23,000 saved to fund the search for the missing child.

His grandparents, Edwin and Christine Needham, kept the money in a pillowcase under the bed at their home in Legsby, near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire - it was to be used to finance flights as part of the continuing hunt for Ben.

Alison Jarvis, 23, the ex-fiancée of Ben's uncle Danny, told the court that she and her 49-year-old mother had travelled from Wrexham to the house in order to get personal belongings left there after the couple split up.

She claimed that she went to the house to retrieve a silver necklace, a watch, some CDs and clothes.

Spite

She admitted stealing an XBox games console out of spite for the times Danny Needham had ignored her while playing games but denied going into the bedroom where the money was kept or even knowing anything the cash existed.

During her trial last week, a warrant was issued for her arrest after she failed to appear at court and the prosecution accused her of being "dishonest and manipulative", claiming she would do anything to avoid her fate.

Outside the court on Monday, Mr and Mrs Needham described the theft as "callous" as it had, they said, stopped them from searching for their grandson.

Last year police in the UK made a fresh attempt to trace Ben by issuing a digital image of how he might look now.

But the authorities in Greece have gradually scaled down their own search for the youngster despite several alleged 'sightings.