A man and a woman have been arrested and charged after they allegedly stole a handbag from a woman who lay critically injured in a car wreck and used her credit cards to buy cigarettes and alcohol after she died.
Aged care nurse Kay Shaylor, 62, was on her way to work early on September 3 when her car was hit head-on by another car at North Gosford just after 6am.
The driver of that car, a 20-year-old woman, was allegedly unlicensed and faces charges of dangerous and negligent driving occasioning death.
As emergency services responded to the accident, which left Ms Shaylor's car tipped sideways and partially crushed, it's alleged her handbag was taken from the crash site.
Police believe the bag was taken to a house nearby, where cash and credit cards were taken from the purse, before it was brought back to the crash scene.
Ms Shaylor was trapped in the car for 15 minutes before she was rushed to Gosford Hospital with "multiple injuries". She was then airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital, where she died.
As her family began to plan her funeral, they noticed "numerous transactions" were being made from her bank account and cancelled her cards.
They then notified police, who began an investigation.
It's alleged a 42-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman used the cards in the Gosford area to buy food, cigarettes, alcohol and a fishing rod.
Officers arrested the pair on Wednesday morning at Gosford train station.
The man was charged with 15 offences, including ten counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. He was refused bail and will face Gosford Local Court on Thursday.
The woman faced five counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of larceny. She was granted bail and will face the same court on September 27.