caught in a poverty trap

Curfew slapped on Inverness OAP who blew daughter's £7000 on slot machines

Published: 17/08/2012

A PENSIONER who spent £7,000 of her daughter’s money gambling on slot machines at a bingo hall in Inverness had a curfew imposed on her for a period of nine months.

Inverness Sheriff Court had allowed 72-year-old Margaret Davies six months to try to pay back the money before sentence was passed.

Davies of Rowan Road, Inverness, had admitted in February stealing the money from her daughter between August 1, 2009 and May 30, 2011.

Her daughter Celeste Stewart had instructed Davies to pay for repairs and bills to two properties she owned in Inverness while she was out of the country. She transferred money from her own bank account into her mother’s on a monthly basis.

Suspicions were first raised in 2011 when Ms Stewart was in the UK trying to arrange a joiner to fit a new bathroom into one of her flats. The court heard how she became suspicious because her mother was continually missing deadlines for the work to start and was also putting off paying the joiner for the materials for the job.

When Ms Stewart accused her mother of stealing the money, she reacted angrily and said the cash would be in the account within the week.

However, no money appeared and Davies’s daughter contacted the police.

Sheriff Ian Abercrombie had deferred sentence to see if Davies could repay the money and if she could find employment.

Today Davies’s solicitor Duncan Henderson told the court she had repaid £570 in total and was still seeking work.

Mr Henderson explained that Davies had very little income and had the prospects of a job which would pay £160 per week.

"But that would mean the council pushing her rent up. She wishes to see her daughter repaid. Her difficulty is getting the money to do that and she is caught in a poverty trap."

The solicitor said there were also difficulties with her age and health. "She remains very ashamed that she is before the court today. She understands the gross error of judgement this was."

He said the job she had been offered would not involve handling cash.

Sheriff Abercrombie told Davies it was a serious case and it was aggravated by the fact that her own daughter was the victim of the crime. "You will have to live with that for the rest of your life.

"In all the circumstances and having heard the reports and I am going to impose a restriction of liberty order for nine months from 8pm until 6am."

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/News/Curfew-slapped-on-Inverness-OAP-who-blew-daughters-7000-on-slot-machines-16082012.htm