Telford woman steals £30k from parents to repay debts and go on holidays
A daughter stole almost £30,000 from her retired parents to pay off debts and pay for holidays, a mobile phone and a car, a court heard.
Lindsay Oliver withdrew the cash from bank accounts in her parents' name without their permission.
Her deception has left the family "broken", Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.
Oliver, 31, of Leicester Way in Leegomery, Telford, pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud totalling £29,496.10.
But she avoided an immediate jail term when she appeared at court for sentencing yesterday. The court was told Oliver's mother Maureen said she did not want to see her daughter go to prison.
Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting, said Oliver had got hold of her father's bank details over the phone when he had agreed to pay £60 to a van hire firm in May last year. But in the following weeks a total of £3,358 was taken out of his account.
Oliver got hold of her mother's bank details when she agreed to transfer £5,000 for a new car. She took more than £10,800 for the car and then carried on spending on other things, including a £340 phone. She also got access to her mother's account for pension payments.
Mr Edwards said: "She fully admitted she had been greedy and hadn't thought through what the consequences might be."
He said Oliver's mother Maureen had told police she didn't want to believe what her daughter had done.
She said 'It has broken my family'."
Recorder Nigel Daly sentenced her to 16 months in prison for each count to run concurrently – but suspended for 12 months.
He also ordered her to be supervised for 12 months, do 120 hours' unpaid work and eight two-hour sessions at a women's activity centre, and pay a victim surcharge.
