Dementia Sufferer Cheated by Gambling Addict

Family’s disgust over £29k theft from dementia sufferer

CALLOUS thief Ricky Fountain systematically fleeced more than £29,000 from the bank account of a frail 93-year-old woman to fund a reckless spending spree and gambling addiction.

He withdrew large sums of cash in a "despicable" scam and left the pensioner's family being forced to put her house up for sale to help pay her care fees, a court heard.

Fountain, 33, of Fraser Street, Grimsby, admitted 16 offences of theft and two of converting criminal property between September 2008 and May last year.

Laurinda Bower, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the victim of the scam was Margaret Earnshaw, who suffered from dementia and lived in a care home for vulnerable people.

She was the grandmother of Fountain's wife, Heidi Fountain, who became her main carer when Mrs Earnshaw's mental health deteriorated after the death of her husband in May 2008. Heidi Fountain and her brother, Andrew Brookes, were granted joint power of attorney and she had charge of a debit card.

Heidi Fountain admitted she had sometimes given the card and the PIN to Ricky Fountain. In November 2008, Mrs Earnshaw went in to respite care at a local nursing home.

Her brother Simon Brookes today told the Telegraph: "This has put a big scar down the middle of our family that will never be healed. I'm quite a strong-willed person. Nothing really fazes me but this has destroyed me. I don't think I will ever get over it."

Bank statements were checked and it was discovered that about £45,000 could not be accounted for. Ricky Fountain stole a total of £29,187, including withdrawals from cash machines of £1,650 in September 2008, £4,140 in October, £3,540 in November, £4,000 in December, more than £3,000 in January last year, £2,000 in February, £5,211 in March and £980 in April last year.

The card had been used for a total sum of £5,876 at petrol stations, supermarkets, for cashback and for online gambling sites.

The court was told it was not possible to say where the rest of the money had gone.

As a result of the plundering of the cash, Mrs Earnshaw had been left with insufficient money to pay for her care and the local council had been forced to take over some of the cost.

Richard Hackfath, mitigating, said Fountain had been trusted by his wife to take care of the card and its PIN.

"In a despicable way, he took advantage of the position his wife was in," said Mr Hackfath. "He doesn't seek to lay the blame in any other direction. It's him and only him."

Fountain's online sales business got in to difficulties, his gambling escalated and he succumbed to the temptation of stealing the pensioner's money.

"His intention wasn't to take all of this money," said Mr Hackfath. "He wanted to tide himself over and pay it back in the longer term. That plan didn't come to anything. His financial problems got worse.

"He accepts that large amounts of money were used on online betting sites. He became more and more desperate and the amounts he stole went up and up. He got himself completely out of his depth and could not see any way out of it."

Father-of-four Fountain, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for 21 months.

Judge David Tremberg condemned Fountain's "selfish greed" and "despicable" actions in persistently plundering the pensioner's bank account.

"You were able to fritter away her savings to support your business, living expenses, gambling and your debts. It was quite outrageous," said Judge Tremberg.

The court heard that Heidi Fountain was originally also charged with the offences but, after investigation, the prosecution offered no evidence against her.