THE sister of ex-First Minister Jack McConnell has managed to sell her house in her bid to pay back thousands of pounds she stole from a disabled pensioner.

Anne McConnell stole £9,000 from the bank account of 80-year-old severe arthritis sufferer Janet Noteman while working as her carer on the Isle of Arran.

McConnell, the little sister of Labour peer Jack, got hold of Noteman’s bank card and PIN number and cleaned out her savings account between February and August 2015.

The 51-year-old is facing jail for the offence and was told to raise the money she stole before being sentenced.

And this week, it emerged she had managed to sell her three bedroom semi-detached home in the Arran village of Whiting Bay to settle the balance. The property was up for sale for offers over £105,000 but McConnell has managed to sell it for £95,000.

Defence solicitor Gordon Ghee confirmed to Kilmarnock Sheriff Court: “An offer has been received on the property.

“The proposed date of entry is September 9, the sale price is £95,000.”

After hearing that the £9,000 McConnell stole will be taken out of the £95,000, Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane adjourned the case for the sale to be finalised.

As she did so, she said: “I hope by then the funds have been transferred and then I’ll deal with this. We are getting there slowly but surely.”

McConnell is now expected to learn her fate next month.

McConnell’s theft came to light when she went off on sick leave and the pensioner noticed the money was gone. Her new carer contacted the police, leading to McConnell being detained and pulled in for questioning.

McConnell told officers she’d stolen the money because she was going through the menopause and needed it to pay her mortgage. And she said she hoped her big brother would help pay back the money, which was reduced to £9,000 from £17,900 after striking a deal with prosecutors.

But Jack, who was First Minister of Scotland between 2001 and 2007, released a statement saying he had not been asked to help his sister, and would not be paying any of the money.

She has now sold the house and a host of household items, including a horsebox, in a bid to raise the money she stole.

When McConnell, who now lives in Kilmarnock, admitted her guilt earlier this year, Procurator Fiscal Depute Claire McEvinney explained: “She said she needed it to pay her mortgage and said she wasn’t right in the head because of the menopause.”

At a hearing in February, defence solicitor Peter Lockhart said: “In her police interview the police officer said to her that she had made a comment that she would get the money back from her brother. She said, ‘I just meant I would ask if he’d help out to get the money back’.

“He asked, ‘have you spoken to Jack in relation to this?’ She replied, ‘no, not yet’. As far as the family are concerned they are supportive but they are not in a position, nor are they prepared, to pay this money.”