Widow, 75, tricked out of £36,000 savings by nephew's wife
An elderly widow was 'cynically' duped out of her life savings by a family member posing as her friend, a court heard.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Rebecca Thompson conned 75-year-old Dudley widow Beryl Ashfield out of more than £36,000.
Thompson, of Stubby Lane, Wednesfield admitted three counts of fraud at an earlier hearing and yesterday was jailed for 20 months.
Thompson, whose husband is Mrs Ashfield's nephew, drained the pensioner of her life savings in the targeted con, which was only spotted by the victim's grand-daughter.
After initially befriending Mrs Ashfield, in 2013 Thompson turned her attention to swindling the widow out of cash - eventually making off with a total of £36,856.71.
Judge Michael Challinor said Thompson had forged signatures, impersonated Mrs Ashfield on the phone and persuaded her to open a bank account which she used to her own ends.
Mr Lee Egan, prosecuting, told the court 37-year-old Thompson splashed the tens of thousands of cash on jewellery, flowers and on vets' bills.
She used the new bank account 'to pay for goods and services for herself,' he said.
Mr Egan said: "This had a massive impact on Mrs Ashfield's life.
"The money taken was money provided by her deceased husband for her to secure her in her old age.
"Now she is totally reliant on her old age pension."
Miss Alison Scott-Jones, defending, said Thompson, who cares for her son and step-daughter, had shown 'remorse and acceptance of wrongdoing'.
"She recognises that the breach of trust she has committed is enormous and she won't ever be able to repair that."
Sentencing Thompson to 20 months in jail, Judge Challinor said: "Over a two-year period you deliberately and cynically drained Beryl Ashfield's life savings account.
"The total that was lost was £36,850.
"Beryl Ashfield lost her husband some years ago and it's clear from her statements that she never really recovered from that.
"She was therefore vulnerable and very trusting.
"You targeted her, pretended to be her friend, encouraged her to open a bank account, forged her signatures, impersonated her on the phone - and made efforts to deflect inquiries from her grand-daughter who became concerned."
The judge said: "This was a very serious breach of trust.
"Initially your relationship was designed to assist her and befriend her for a period, before these offences were committed..
"I'm prepared to accept that you feel very real remorse."
