The murderer who stole £17,000 from a York shop that gave her a job, is a former nurse with a history of deceit, it can now be revealed.

Alison Matilda Ramsay, 59, was called Alison Firth and working in a care home when she gave an 84-year-old frail resident a lethal dose of sedative.

Newcastle Crown Court heard in 2001 that during her 16-year working career she held at least 27 jobs, falsified references and made up elaborate lies including a claim she had been raped.

She had been cautioned for obtaining property by deception in 1997 and after police started investigating the death of the bedridden woman with senile dementia, faked a series of attacks on her own home to draw suspicion away from her.

Detective Superintendent Chris Symonds, who was in charge of the murder investigation, said outside court in 2001: "We came to the conclusion that Alison Firth was an accomplished and compulsive liar.”

Aimilia Katsoulakis, prosecuting at York Crown Court, said that Shared Earth in Minstergate employed Ramsay when she was released on parole from her life sentence as part of the business’ scheme to give ex-prisoners a chance to re-enter the community.

For four years, she used her position as shop manager to steal a total of £17,000 from the till and covered up her repeated thefts by falsifying accounting records and documents.

Defence barrister Joel Wootten said of the Shared Earth job: “She was given the opportunity of starting afresh ……. and she threw that back in their faces.”

Judge Simon Hickey told Ramsay: “There must be many other ex-prisoners and prisoners on licence that could have had your job. It was an extreme degree of trust that was breached.”

Ramsay, now back behind bars at HMP Styal in Cheshire, pleaded guilty to theft by employee. She was jailed for 20 months to be served alongside her life sentence. She cannot be released again without the permission of the Parole Board.

She was given her life sentence in 2001 for murder, alongside a 30-month sentence for perverting the course of justice by the fake hate campaign against her.

Newcastle Crown Court heard she carried out the murder at a Gateshead care home because she couldn’t be bothered to look after the 84-year-old woman any longer.

Miss Katsoulakis said Ramsay was released on life licence from HMP Askham Grange just outside York on November 17, 2017. At Shared Earth, she oversaw 10 to 12 staff, the general running of the shop and cashing up the till at the end of each day.

For years, she stole between £30 and £100 a time, covering up her crimes, until the firm’s retail director spotted discrepancies in the accounts and started an investigation.

READ MORE: Alison Ramsay's time at Shared Earth

Ramsay was recalled to prison in October 2022 after confessing to her theft. She said she had taken about £17,000 in total from 2018 to 2022.

Mr Wootten said Ramsay was “incredibly remorseful” and had voluntarily admitted her theft to the shop, police and her probation officer. She had been given a trusted job in prison and had a partner who was standing by her.