'Devious' Tory councillor who squandered 92-year-old widow friend's £154,000 life savings is jailed for five years
- John Morgan blew more than £154,000 on slot machines and trips to Vegas
- The money belonged to Beryl Gittens, who had given him power of attorney
- Widowed Mrs Gittens suffered from dementia and died aged 92
- Her family became suspicious when she received only a pauper's funeral
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A Tory councillor who won £100,000 on a lottery scratchcard has been jailed after then plundering a widow's life savings of more than £154,000 pounds which he gambled away on slot machines.
Shamed John Morgan was starting a five-year sentence after a judge described him as 'arrogant, self-deluding and shambolic'.
The 75-year-old Conservative had an addiction for slot machines and squandered away the savings of Beryl Gittens, who suffered from Alzheimer's, meaning that when she died aged 92, she had to be given a pauper's funeral.
Jailed: John Morgan, who stole more than £154,000 from widow Beryl Gittens' bank account after she had given him power of attorney
Morgan ruthlessly raided the bank account of Mrs Gittens, a friend of 30 years, after he was given legal control over her affairs when her memory began to fail.
He had won £100,000 pounds on a lottery scratchcard he bought at a newsagent's shop in Swindon in November 2009.
He was convicted after a six-day trial of the theft of £154,000 pounds, which he made in thousands of bank transfers and cash withdrawals as Mrs Gittens sat in care homes. He even bought himself trips to Las Vegas casinos with her money.
When Mrs Gittens died in 2012, she was given a pauper's funeral funded by the local council, because Morgan had even drained her accounts of any money to pay for her burial.
Speaking at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Mary-Jane Mowat labelled Morgan's actions 'shambolic and devious'.
Vulnerable: Mrs Gittens had been diagnosed with dementia and had to be given a pauper's funeral
'In my opinion there is no degree of trust higher than conveyed by an enduring power of attorney for someone with lesser mental capacity,' she said.
'There is no greater breach of trust than the abuse of that power to the benefit of the holder.'
The court heard how OAP Morgan had begun siphoning off Mrs Gittens' money in 2005. He had been given power of attorney the previous year and registered it after medical advice on her condition in March 2005.
Judge Mowat said figures showed that in 2007 alone he took £11,000 pounds in cash and £26,000 pounds in bank transfers.
This money was going, unbelievably unless you heard the evidence, into gambling machines,' she said, adding that his job as a car parts salesman meant he often stopped and used slot machines at motorway service stations.
'You even went gaming in Las Vegas, on two occasions, using Beryl Gittens' money,' said the judge.
She slammed his excuses that he was draining her funds at her own expressed wish to deprive her in-laws, the Pagett family, of money if her son and primary heir Roger Gittens died, as 'frankly absurd'.
Roger Gittens, who lives in Australia and gave evidence at the trial via a videolink, lost out on more than £70,000 in inheritance, with West Berkshire District Council paying a similar sum in care costs after Beryl's assets fell below the threshold for assistance.
Mrs Gittens was visited regularly by Morgan in the two Newbury care homes she lived at in her latter years.
Judge Mowat said she took into account Morgan's 26 years of public service on councils including the Vale of White Horse District Council and Wantage Town Council, as well as charity work for Mencap.
'All this is in strange and stark contrast to the devious and shambolic way you handled Beryl Gittens' affairs and the way you attempted to pull rank at West Berkshire District Council in interview when your actions were discovered,' she said, adding that his justifications were 'arrogant and self-deluding.'
She praised the efforts of investigation officer Detective Sergeant Rachel Jackson in uncovering the theft.
Trial: Judge Mowat said Morgan's 'arrogant and self-deluding' actions didn't match the charity work he had undertaken. He was jailed yesterday at Oxford Crown Court
He waved to his daughter, who was in court as he was led away.
Following the sentence, Audrey Pagett, Mrs Gittens' sister-in-law, said: 'He got what he deserved. This draws a line under it. I am pleased for my husband and sister-in-law [Beryl Gittens].
Mrs Pagett, from Marshfield, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, was praised during the trial, in which she gave evidence, after she alerted authorities to the theft after Mrs Gittens' funeral and thorough examination of her bank records.
'I just never trusted him, right from the beginning. It was just a gut feeling,' she said.
The court had earlier heard from Michael Roques, prosecuting, who said: 'This was a long course of offending that continued even after the major capital assets had been depleted and continued taking her pension, resulting in cheques to the local authority bouncing right up until Beryl died in January 2012.'
He said Morgan, who wore a green fleece, red jumper and black trousers in court, had received £120,000 pounds from the sale of his half of the house he shared with his wife, from whom he is recently separated.
A hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act will be held on 3 April to determine compensation and costs payments.
Morgan had maintained his denial of any wrongdoing throughout the trial and even in interviews with probation officers prior to sentence.
Lauren Soertsz, mitigating, said Morgan was 'a man of exemplary good character' prior to the theft.
'He secured for Mencap a building to use and has, in a real and proper sense, done good works for the community,' she said.
'He was a good friend to Beryl Gittens and I submit that his conduct does not detract from that.'
She claimed his actions were that of a gambling addict, which Judge Mowat agreed with, and said: 'The whole episode is one that is causing everyone in his family extreme stress.'
Despite this, Judge Mowat ordered Morgan, who resigned from the Conservative party following his conviction in November, to just one year less than the maximum sentence of six years.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2537665/Jail-devious-Tory-councillor-squandered-92-year-old-widow-friends-life-savings.html#ixzz2q8ccvghL
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