Pensioner spent 93-year-old mother's £26k
A pensioner plundered her 93-year-old mother's bank account while she was in a care home, spending thousands of pounds on items including clothes for herself, a court heard.
Maureen Derricutt fraudulently misused the power of attorney she was given over the financial affairs of her mother, Olive Valentine, who has since died.
While Mrs Valentine was confined to a care home, 70-year-old Derricutt, of Great Bridgeford, Stafford, withdrew cash, wrote cheques and used her mother's Visa card to buy clothes.
Mr Philip Beardwell, prosecuting at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday, said the total amount missing from Mrs Valentine's estate was £26,389.
The court heard that Mrs Valentine, who died in September aged 93, despite being confined to a nursing home in Bromsgrove, realised that something was wrong with her finances. She had given Derricutt power of attorney in 2009, but in 2011 she revoked it and gave it to her son-in-law Harold Page, who instructed solicitors to look in to her investments. When Derricutt's misuse was discovered, police were called in.
Mr Beardwell said that during police questioning, Derricutt 'was not particularly remorseful'. Mother and daughter had fallen out after Mrs Valentine lent Derricutt £2,000 to buy a car.
Derricutt, of Laburnum Close, admitted a charge of fraud. Mr Chris Clark, defending, said: "She was clearly out of her depth in dealing with power of attorney. It was in a situation where she and her children were main beneficiaries under her mother's will. She does accept she's acted beyond the power of attorney – £6,000 has already been repaid."
Recorder Mr Christopher Goodchild made a ruling under the Proceeds of Crime Act that all of the money was to be repaid within six months. Derricutt was handed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £500 costs.
