A woman stands accused of attempting to steal more than $49,000 from a bank after allegedly being caught on camera trying to open an ATM machine with a screwdriver.

Sharon Caines, 49, who has more than 100 previous convictions for dishonesty, cried and protested her innocence when she appeared at Magistrates' Court.

Senior Crown Counsel Carrington Mahoney told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner of the alleged incident on October 1: "She was spotted on CCTV at Dockyard. You can see where she tried to cover one of the two CCTV cameras to avoid being recorded and she had a screwdriver which she used to damage the ATM machine, which had at the time over $49,000 (in the vault).

"But she was only able to retrieve two credit cards that the machine had kept from their owners. For some reason she destroyed the valid one and threw it away."

Caines interrupted to tell the Magistrate: "That's a lie."

Mr. Mahoney continued: "When she was damaging the machine she was actually trying to pull it apart to get to the money but she was only able to retrieve the credit cards."

As the defendant continued to protest loudly about "lies" Mr. Mahoney described her as a heroin addict with 100 similar previous convictions. The Police were called after Caines allegedly used the card she thought was valid in the Pulp and Circumstance store in Dockyard's Clocktower Mall.

It was declined when she tried to pay for a $52 bag, said Mr. Mahoney, and she left that store and allegedly stole a ladies shirt from the Orchard store.

Asked about the chronology of the alleged events by Mr. Warner, Mr. Mahoney said Caines was recorded entering the ATM area at 11.50 a.m and she was detained in a Dockyard restaurant by the Police at 1.31 p.m.

She was searched, and found in possession of the shirt and the ATM card.

Caines pleaded not guilty to a total of six charges: unlawfully damaging a Bank of Bermuda ATM machine, stealing two credit cards belonging to Darrell S.D. Joell and Michael Aming, and attempting to steal $49,980 – the contents of the ATM machine vault.

In addition, she's accused of having a black handled screwdriver to be used for theft, attempting to dishonestly obtain a $52 bag from Pulp and Circumstance by fraudulently presenting Mr. Aming's card, and stealing a $49 ladies shirt belonging to the Orchard store.

As the Magistrate read the charges out, an emotional Caines burst out: "That's not true your honour! None of these charges were read out to me (by the Police.) I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Caines, who gave a Somerset address but is listed on court documents as being homeless, further claimed that she'd been arrested and held at Somerset Police station for three days without understanding what was going on.

Mr. Warner urged her to "relax" and "take it easy" several times during the proceedings on Friday. Since Caines did not have a lawyer, he adjourned the matter for a week so she can try to obtain one through Legal Aid.

Mr. Mahoney objected to her being bailed, and the Magistrate remanded her into custody until the next hearing.

On that date, she will also be dealt with for ten charges of dishonesty-related offences dating back to January 2007, for which she has previously failed to attend court.