Son jailed for stealing Oswestry father’s cash to gamble
Friday 2nd July 2010, 12:47PM BST.
A Shropshire man who stole more than £70,000 from his elderly father to feed his gambling addiction has been jailed for a total of 16 months.
Kenneth Davies, 52, of Old Mews, Oswald Place, Oswestry, was jailed for the “cynical” abuse of his late father, Jack.
Judge Robin Onions said that, after being granted the power of attorney over his 98-year-old father’s financial affairs, Davies had “pillaged” his Halifax account over two years and had “utterly wasted” the cash.
He used some of the money to buy a taxi and a motorbike for himself and cars for his children. Davies was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday after admitting theft.
Mr Rob Edwards, prosecuting, said Davies admitted stealing £70,000 from his father, although family members believed the actual figure could be higher.
He said Davies’s father, Jack, had signed over his financial affairs to his son when he was moved to an Oswestry care home.
After the move, Mr Davies’s home in Balmoral Crescent, Oswestry, had been sold and the proceeds put in his bank account.
Funding for Mr Davies’s care was drawn from that account. The court heard Mr Davies died in January.
The theft came to light when the care home contacted Davies’s half-sister to tell her there was a problem with the funding.
An investigation with the bank was launched and in police interview Davies admitted he had used the money to fund his gambling addiction.
Mr Dean Easthope, for Davies, said his client was ashamed of the offence and the problem arose after he started gambling.
The judge told Davies he had cheated his two half-siblings out of any share they might have received from his father’s estate.
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