Woman given 20 month suspended sentence for stealing from father’s bank account.
Lynne Sims, 56, stole £13,786 from her elderly father.
20 month sentence suspended for two years and she will do 100 unpaid work.
A woman who stole £13,786 from her elderly father’s bank account has been given a 20 month suspended sentence.
The 56 year old woman initially began taking money from her father’s account for petrol, but then her spending escalated and she started spending for her personal gain. When her father, a man in his late 80s from Knebworth, went into hospital his account was over £9,000 in credit, but by the time he was discharged his account was overdrawn by £1,000.
Lynne Sims, 56, of Pound Lane, Laughton in East Sussex, was given a 20 month sentence, suspended for 24 months after pleading guilty at St Albans Crown Court on Monday, June 17. She was also ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity and 100 hours unpaid work and will serve a month-long curfew between 7am and 7pm, which will be electronically monitored. She has also been given an indefinite restraining order preventing her from contacting her victim.
Detective Constable Sarah Hopkins, of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Safeguarding Adults from Abuse team, said: “Sims took advantage of her father’s vulnerable state and began to drain his bank account and run up debts in his name. She had been in a trusted position, caring for an elderly and vulnerable person and she abused that trust, leaving him unable to pay his utility bills and having to rely on food parcels.
“This conviction will help to protect vulnerable people from similar abuses of trust and send a clear message that these kinds of crimes will not go unpunished.”
In sentencing Judge Wigin said: “Temptation overcame you and throughout these proceedings you have failed to consider your victim. Have you any idea what you have put him through?”
If you believe you have been the victim or know a victim of fraud you can contact the Hertfordshire Constabulary non-emergency number 101 for advice. Alternatively Report information online or you can speak to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat, which can be launched here.
