‘Wicked’ woman ‘squandered’ £18,000 from elderly aunt on shopping

A ‘wicked’ Yorkshire woman who used her elderly aunt’s near £18,000 savings for her own shopping and bills has been given a suspended jail sentence.

After her mum died, Amanda Taylor, 55, from Elland, took over the Power of Attorney for her 82-year-old auntie’s finances while she was living at a Halifax care home.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday (Thursday, July 4), how her aunt suffered from a learning disability and Taylor rarely visited her at the home but when the payments for her care home fees stopped, the manager became suspicious and contacted West Yorkshire Police.

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A financial investigation found Taylor had been using money from her aunt’s bank account for her own purposes. Taylor, of Brooksbank Gardens, Elland, pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by abuse of position covering a period between December 2019 and April 2023.

It was estimated by Taylor that she had taken about £17,000 to £18,000. Prosecutor Philip Adams said a care assistant had stated that she had used her own money to buy toiletries and other items for the complainant.

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Recorder Turner said Taylor’s aunt was particularly vulnerable and added: ”It was wicked offending and very very mean.” After her arrest last year Taylor, a mum-of-one with no previous convictions, said she had intended to pay the money back. She said she was in financial difficulty at the time and used the money for day-to-day expenses.

She said she felt terrible when it was suggested that the total amount was about £20,000. Barrister James Holding, for Taylor, said her son was her designated carer and she lived a lonely existence.

Mr Holding said the offending did not involve a lavish lifestyle and the money had been spent paying off bills and day-to-day living. Recorder Taryn Turner said Taylor had “squandered” her aunt’s money over a period of nearly four years.

“You dipped in and out taking her money until there came a point when the care home fees were not being paid,” said the judge.

Taylor was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for two years. She must comply with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and abide by a six-month electronically monitored home curfew between 9pm and 7am.