A HEALTHCARE assistant has denied 13 charges of stealing cash and jewellery from staff and patients at a North Yorkshire hospital.

Sophie McGarry, 21, of Wood Street, Norton, is alleged to have carried out the thefts over a six-month period when she worked at Scarborough Hospital last year. The amounts of cash varied from £80 to £10 and the jewellery is alleged to have included a bracelet.

Her boyfriend Liam Andrews, of Rossendale, Lancashire, who stood with her in the dock at York Crown Court, denies one charge of handling stolen jewellery.

Both will stand trial together on February 2 in York, and were released on bail. McGarry was suspended from her job at the hospital after the allegations against her were made.