admitted stealing close to $300 at its Rosebank branch.

Valerie Tucker, 39, of Derwent Lane, Devonshire, pleaded guilty to the charge in Magistrates' Court.

Tucker took $292.50 in coins from the in-house cashier area of the bank shortly after 5 a.m. on December 4.

Prosecutor Sgt. Earl Kirby said she was later arrested and admitted the offence.

Tucker, who is now unemployed, said she needed the money for debts.

"I know I was wrong for what I did,'' she told acting Senior Magistrate the Wor. Cheryl-Ann Mapp. "I have paid the money back. I don't know why I did it.

I owed other people money and I was behind in my rent.'' "We all have financial stress, Mrs. Tucker,'' Ms Mapp said. "But how we go about dealing with it is what differentiates us. By stealing you have now found yourself without any income to deal with it.'' She ordered a social inquiry report on Tucker and released her on $500 bail.

Tucker will be sentenced on January 20.