A granddaughter stole more than £2,000 from her grandmother who had been diagnosed with dementia and moved to a care homes She frittered the money away on clothing, household items, rent, and takeaways.
Gemma Jones, 31, of Bridgend, defrauded her grandmother Gwynfa Jones out of £2,746 over a year, cruelly and cynically taking advantage of her poor health. Mrs Jones moved into a care home in March 23, 2018, but within a matter of days her granddaughter began making transactions from her bank account.
A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard Jones had been involved her grandmother's care but on a number of occasions Mrs Jones had been found in a confused state having left her home in Ogmore Vale. The fraud came to light when the victim's son Ian Jones went to his mother's house to collect mail in October 2018.
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He discovered that a number of payments had been made from her HSBC account which did not stack up. The matter was reported to HSBC and further transactions were restricted. The police were contacted in January 2019 and it was established Jones as responsible for taking the money from her grandmother's account.
An investigation into the fraud found a number of transactions between April and October 2018 with payments made to shops including Next, New Look, B&M Bargains, Trago Mills, and Matalan. Money had also been spent on the defendant's rent, trips, to the cinema and fast food.
Jones, of Heol Dewi Sant, Bettws, was arrested in February 2020 and denied she had stolen the money from her grandmother, with whom she said she had a good relationship, and claimed the spending had been done with her permission. She later pleaded guilty to fraud and the court heard she had no previous convictions.
Prosecutor Bethan Evans said the offence involved the breach of a high degree of trust and a vulnerable victim. As a result of the theft Mrs Jones was unable to pay her care home fees, was forced to move to another care home, and her house was sold in order to pay off debt. The court heard the victim has since died.
In a victim personal statement read out to the court Mrs Jones' son Ian Jones said: "My mother was always a strong independent woman and enjoyed her freedom. To see her vulnerable and weak in the last years of her life was heartbreaking. What made it worse was a family member given a position of trust abused it so badly. It was heartbreaking for me.... Little did I know Gemma would would take advantage of the vulnerability she displayed and whittled away all of my mother's reserves.... I felt so guilty."
Mr Jones said items of sentimental value and the victim's will had been taken by the defendant and she had been named as a beneficiary. He said Jones had managed to change her bail conditions to be able to see Mrs Jones in hospital before she died, which contributed to their distress. Mr Jones added: "I was robbed of the chance to grieve. I struggle to think of my mum without thinking of the pain."
Defence barrister Georgina Buckley said she acknowledged the custody threshold was passed in her client's case but argued her sentence could be suspended. She said the defendant was training to be a nurse but would no longer be able to pursue nursing as a career due to her conviction. The barrister said Jones' has two young children who would be affected if she was immediately sent to prison.
Sentencing, Recorder Carl Harrison said: "Cynically from your own greed you took advantage of [Mrs Jones] when she was at her most vulnerable... You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself for what you have done... If I were to send you to prison, which you richly deserve, there would be another victim as a result of your greed."
Jones was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years. She was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
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