A man without anywhere to live moved into his grandmother's house and spent months bullying the pensioner and stealing her life savings. Simon Fisher cleaned out the 87-year-old's bank accounts, spending the money on heroin, taxi rides, and online shopping. In total he stole almost £47,000 leaving the widow overdrawn and penniless. When he was arrested the defendant initially denied any wrongdoing leaving his grandmother with the prospect of having to go to court to give evidence against him.
Jim Davis, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court in January 2020 Fisher went to his grandmother's house in Glyncorrwg in the Afan Valley and asked if he could stay for a couple of weeks. He said the pensioner had regularly looked after Fisher during his childhood and was aware of the drug issues he had through his life and of his past offending and his periods in prison. The barrister said the pensioner – who lived a "frugal life" on her state pension and her late husband's occupational pension – had also helped him out financially over the years.
Mr Davis said 45-year-old Fisher moved into the house and then began to "comprehensively abuse his grandmother's generosity" by badgering her for cash handouts, using her bank cards, booking taxis, buying heroin with her money, and going online shopping with Amazon. He also moved his partner into the house. The court heard the grandmother would give Fisher her bank cards to do errands for her but he was often reluctant to return them and in the end the pensioner took to hiding them. In response Fisher tried to install CCTV cameras in the house to find out where she was putting the cards. He also kept photographs of her cards and details of their pin codes on his phone.
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The court heard that if the pensioner was reluctant to give him money Fisher would become "aggressive" and the woman began to fear he would hit her. The defendant would also threaten her that he owned money to "gypsies" who would come to her house and set fire to it.
The prosecutor said in May 2021 the pensioner rang her bank in Maesteg to discuss a financial matter only to be told that both her accounts were empty and she was in fact overdrawn. He said the grandmother was shocked at the news but asked the bank not to tell anyone about the overdraft. Despite staff trying to persuade the pensioner to tell her family about what was happening Fisher's theft remained secret until the December of that year when, upset at being unable to buy presents for her family as she usually did, the pensioner agreed to take action. The woman's daughters were invited for a meeting at the branch where the truth was revealed and it was decided they would take over the running of their mother's accounts. The police were then alerted and Fisher was arrested. In his interview at Neath police station he denied any wrongdoing.
In total the defendant stole £46,968 from his grandmother over the course of almost two years. The court heard the victim's bank has reimbursed most of the missing money. In a victim impact statement which was read to the court Fisher's grandmother said she could not believe a member of her own family had stolen from her and she said she blamed herself for allowing it to happen.
Simon Fisher, also known as Simon Leigh Paul, of Stafford Street, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to theft when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court heard he has an extensive history of offending – mostly dishonesty and theft matters as well as drugs – going back many years.
David Singh, for Fisher, said the defendant had battled drink and drug issues for many years and suffered with anxiety and depression but despite these issues had worked for long periods as a car mechanic. He said his client and his new partner were expecting their first child and he said they were his instructions that the defendant regrets the anguish he has caused and realises his actions have ruined his relationship with the rest of his family.
Judge Paul Thomas KC told Fisher he had been a "thoroughly dishonest man" for most of his life. He said while most of the defendant's previous victims were shops – and the judge said he didn't want to downplay the seriousness of shoplifting and its impact on businesses – Fisher's latest victim was his own grandmother, a woman who he had bullied and badgered into giving him money after she had been kind enough to take him in. He said the defendant had, in effect, stolen the woman's life savings and said it must have been distressing for her to find herself in the twilight of her life without any money because of the actions of somebody she loved.
With a 20% discount for his guilty plea Fisher was sentenced to three years in prison. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. He was also made the subject of a restraining order banning his from contacting his grandmother for the next five years.
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