'She has truly devastated me': Woman fleeced own gran for £45k
05.08.2023 - 07:55
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A frail pensioner was almost turfed out of her own home of more than 30 years over debts after her granddaughter stole nearly £50,000 from her. Joanne McGarity blew a kiss to members of her family in court as she was jailed this week.
Trusted mum-of-two McGarity, 42, helped herself to £45,663 of her gran Joan Jones' money between January 2019 and February 2022 to feed her addiction to gambling.
It left the elderly victim with debts which nearly saw her kicked out of her home of more than three decades and threatened with bailiffs coming round to repossess her belongings, the court heard.
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Sarah Griffin, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court, described how McGarity - of Yates Close in Hood Manor, Warrington - first became her gran's carer in 2017, beginning to receive an allowance for her duties from August 2019 onwards.
The now 87-year-old is unable to walk unaided, and requires help with duties including cleaning and shopping, reports The Echo.
Her granddaughter was given her debit card in order to assist with the latter task and put in charge of her financial affairs, but abused this position of trust by helping herself to regular cash withdrawals of hundreds of pounds per time and transferring money from Ms Jones' account into her own online.
The victim's son Ian Jones, the defendant's uncle, first became suspicious when McGarity asked another family member for money to buy bread and milk for the pensioner. He then approached his elderly mum with his concerns, and the two identified the alarming discrepancies after obtaining bank statements dating back to 2019.
They called the police, after which the fraudster phoned the