Banker plundered account of pensioner with dementia

Ainsdale banker who plundered the account of pensioner faces jail over a string of new fraud crimes
Southport Visiter

A CALLOUS banker who plundered the account of a frail pensioner faces jail over a string of new fraud crimes, the Visiter can reveal.

Ainsdale man Alex Cunningham, 31, was jailed for three and a half years in 2006 after stealing £270,000 from Doris Galloway, then 84, to feed his gambling addiction.

But the former Merchant Taylors’ pupil is set to be sent back to prison after committing a fresh raft of offences upon his release.

Over four months, Cunningham fleeced his girlfriend’s bank account while she was away, blowing cash on online gambling sites using her credit card.

He also used her Ford Fiesta car without permission, driving it without insurance over a four month period.

Cunningham, who gave a Walton address at Liverpool Crown Court, pleaded guilty to six charges of false representation and fraud between February and June 2010.

He admitted gambling cash at online bookmakers William Hill and Gibraltar-based firm, Bwin.

And he also committed fraud by taking out a £400 loan in his girlfriend’s name, while using her account to repay another.

Cunningham was told to expect a prison term when he appears at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday. He has already pleaded guilty.

Described by police as a "very arrogant man", Cunningham was jailed for raiding Mrs Galloway’s account while working at the HSBC bank in Lord Street between 2003 and 2004.

He discovered that the wealthy pensioner had no family and that her husband was in poor health.

Cunningham, then of Liverpool Road, would call at her home and run errands for her and soon started opening and closing accounts without her knowledge, transferring cash between them and even crediting loans to her accounts.

He was found guilty of 34 offences, including theft, false accounting and obtaining a money transfer by deception.

During the time he stole the money, Cunningham had accounts with an online betting company and casinos.

He even staked more than £1,000 on an American football match hours after he was released on police bail following his arrest.

The bank caught him when he transferred £50,000 from its unclaimed balance account into her high interest savings account.

Sentencing him, Judge Bryn Holloway said he had used his education and talents to cheat and deceive Mrs Galloway.

He told Cunningham: "The fact you were addicted to gambling may well explain, but cannot in any way excuse what you did.

"It was callous in the extreme."

Mrs Galloway, now 90, suffers dementia and is reliant on Southport care provider Community Care Direct. Her medical condition rendered her too poorly to speak to the Visiter.

A spokesman said: "Mrs Galloway is a very, very frail lady. To be informed of something like this could be so detrimental to her health. It is something that could take her over the edge."

Cunningham will be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, May 3. For a full report, see next week’s Visiter.