Fraudster stole £17k from her grandma

Gambling addict Danielle Finch (35) had been estranged from her family but reconnected with her elderly relative at a funeral and became her carer, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

But after being given access to the pensioner’s bank account, the mum of three helped herself to a total of £17,165 over a 14-month period — spending almost £4,800 on gambling — while also opening and using credit accounts with two retail firms.

The court heard Finch had not intended to steal any money when they met but had begun by “borrowing” small sums which she had meant to pay back.

Recorder Angela Frost sentenced Finch — who admitted one count of theft and two of fraud — to 14 months in prison but decided to spend the sentence after hearing the defendant had addressed her gambling addiction and not reoffended since her crimes came to light.

The court heard Finch had suffered a “traumatic” start to life and endured childhood abuse before being taken into care at the age of ten.

She had been estranged from her family but reconnected with her grandmother, who is now 88, at her father’s funeral and they had been begun spending time together, with Finch eventually becoming her carer.

Ms Jessica Butterell, prosecuting, told how Finch had opened accounts in her victim’s name with retail firm JD Williams and catalogue company Freemans Grattan and clocked up spending of £2,156 and £1,149 respectively — more than £2,400 of which had not been paid off when the fraud was discovered.

She also began taking money out of her grandmother’s bank account, which added up to a four-figure sum, despite the pensioner telling her not to take more than £10 out at a time.

The theft, committed between 2017 and 2018, was only discovered when bank officials got in touch to say the account was overdrawn.

Finch, of Briery Walk, Greasbrough, had repaid £540 of the stolen money, the court was told.

Ms Rebecca Stevens, mitigating, said Finch had “accepted responsibility and is thoroughly ashamed of her behaviour”.

She said Finch had not deliberately targeted her victim, adding: “It was at the funeral that she became connected to her grandmother and spent time with her.

“There did developer care and a relationship betwem them.”

Ms Stevens said the case had been hanging over Finch for more than three years and said she had “sought help with her gambling and is no longer in the throes of that addiction”.

Recorder Frost noted letters of support for Finch, which she said had “the overwhelming thrust that you are someone who would do anything for anyone, which makes your offending so surprising”.

But the recorder also highlighted how the victim had been “frugal” and never been in debt before, so the debt resulting from Finch’s crimes must have been “very distressing” for her.

Finch was sentenced to 14 months in prison for theft and 21 weeks, to run concurrently, for fraud, with both terms suspended for two years.

She was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation.