A 50-year-old woman from Scotland stood before the Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday on charges of stealing over £6,000 from her mother’s savings to fund her problem gambling. The woman by the name of Lynne Cree took the bank card of her mother and used the available funds to chase her gambling losses. The 82-year-old pensioner was floored when she found out she had only £80 left in her account.
The Dundee Sheriff Court, where the case was seen, was told Cree had no choice but to move in with her elderly mother toward the end of 2017 after her gambling addiction caused the end of her relationship. The mother and daughter lived in Dundee’s Roseburn Gardens. The series of thefts occurred over a brief period of time, between December 31, 2017 and January 23, 2018.
The Court was told the pensioner mistrusted her daughter because she knew about her problem gambling. The elderly woman had gone as far as hiding her purse in her bedroom at night to protect her money. According to Christine Allan, a Fiscal Depute, the problem gambler also had knowledge of the PIN number of her elderly mother’s bank card so that she could assist her with grocery shopping.
At some point, the 50-year-old woman began withdrawing cash from ATMs around town while the pensioner spent some time in the local hospital. The Dundee Sheriff Court was told that the card’s available balance stood at a little over £5,300 around Christmas Eve, 2017. It had dropped to £80 by the time the pensioner found out about the theft towards the end of January 2018.
The Woman Stole the Money because of Her Soaring Gambling Debts
The elderly woman went to check her savings at the bank and was shocked when she heard how much she had left in her account. The pensioner was so upset that she had to be assisted by a member of the bank’s personnel. The bank card was subsequently blocked by the owner. The accused 52-year-old admitted to withdrawing several thousand pounds from her mother’s bank card towards the end of December 2017.
According to Fiscal Depute Allan, the problem gambler explained during questioning she had withdrawn the money because of her soaring gambling debts. The woman explained she stole the funds in hopes of recouping her betting losses. Cree told the Dundee Sheriff Court she felt remorseful about her actions and has taken all the necessary steps to quit gambling altogether.
Sheriff Rafferty at the Dundee Sheriff Court expressed the opinion that Cree’s transgression called for a custodial sentence. However, the Sheriff decided to defer Cree’s sentence on the insistence of solicitor Alex Short, who told the Court the accused was regularly taking care of her young grandchildren on behalf of her daughter. Taking this into account, Sheriff Rafferty decided to order a Restriction of Liberty Order report, instead.
- Author
Daniel Williams
