Nothing can hurt a parent more to know that her own child is stealing from her, let alone that she herself is in dire need of her own money, being that she is in assisted living and her only means of acquiring money is through her pension. Fortunately for this elderly mother, she was saved from this disappointment as throughout the entire ordeal, she was not informed of her son's disappointing conduct.
Kevin David Giles, age 55, resident of Derby Road, Kegworth, UK, shamelessly used his mother's money so he can gamble online. He apparently had joint control over his mother's funds, who is suffering from dementia.
He pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court for failure to attend court and fraud in breach of a position of trust. Kevin failed to attend court for sentence in December 2015 mainly because he was trying to liquidate his own pension to acquire funds to pay back the money he lost but the money did not come through, so he panicked and wasn't able to attend. A warrant was issued to arrest him, and he spent 7 days in custody prior to being sentenced.
The victim Maureen Giles was unaware of her son's unscrupulous actions when he plundered her account in 2013. She receives full-time care in a residence located at St. Austell, Cornwall, and she relies on her savings bank account to pay for her care. Kevin and his sister had joint control of their mother's account.
Kate Plummer, prosecuting, said, "It became clear a significant amount was paid to an online bookmaker, Betfair."
At one time the account was overdrawn, and the cheques issued to pay for her care bounced, but fortunately she still remained at the assisted living home.
Kevin was able to withdraw a sum of £14,801, but because he won on some bets, his loss was £4,690. He was ordered by Judge Nicholas Dean QC to pay the £4,690 back to his mother's bank account, via his funds from his recently liquidated pension.
Betfair was reasonable enough to pay various amounts and also the defendant's winnings back into the ailing mother's account.
The judge said to Kevin, "Your elderly mother very sadly suffers from dementia and is in a care home and you were in a position of trust regarding her finances. You effectively stole from her bank account. It's said your motivation was to make up what was expected to be a deficit in her ability to pay for her care - that may have been part of your motivation. It's unavoidable that your reason for raiding her account was also to fuel your gambling addiction. Your actions put at risk funds that weren't yours. Thankfully your mother knows nothing of your actions, but what you did caused real distress to your family. It was an extremely mean offence."
Kevin admitted that he's suffering from gambling addiction.
Michael Collins, mitigating, stated, "If it hadn't been for his gambling problem it's clear this offence wouldn't have been committed. He's horrified and bitterly ashamed that he's mistreated family members in this way.
His sister isn't speaking to him for the time being and has terminated their relationship. He's gravely remorseful and concerned his relationship with his sister may never fully recover. This happened at the lowest point in his 20 year gambling addiction, for which he wants to receive help."
Collins further added, "It may seem implausible, but he was gambling for his mother's benefit and on the odd occasion he won, that's exactly where the proceeds went."
source http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Gambling-addict-stole-15-000-ailing-mother-s-bank/story-28653503-detail/story.html
