A WIDOW has told of her devastation at discovering her daughter had stolen tens of thousands of pounds from her – leaving her with just 89p in the bank.
Patricia Lyon, 63, had no experience with banks when her husband died suddenly and asked her daughter Claire for help.
Claire, 29, would use her mother's card and PIN number to take out spending money for her.
But Patricia did not know Claire was also helping herself to £60,000 of her late husband's pension payout, faking bank statements and even trying to frame her brother to cover her tracks.
Patricia only discovered the deception after trying to withdraw spending money for her first holiday abroad in decades – and realising there was only 89p left.
"I used to trust my daughter," she said.
"She came round every day with her kids and brought them round for breakfast.
"The effects of what my daughter has done are more devastating than I possibly imagined. To put it bluntly, Claire financially ruined me."
The thefts began after Patricia's husband Robert died suddenly at home following a car accident.
He had always looked after the couple's finances and after his death Patricia trusted her daughter to help.
"My daughter came to see me every day and she knew I didn't like banking," Patricia said.
"She took me with her sometimes to withdraw money but she left me in the car while she went to the bank."
Instead of just getting enough out for Patricia, Claire was withdrawing the maximum amount possible.
She falsified bank statements to keep her mum in the dark and as things got worse she told her it was impossible to get money out because of problems with the cash machine.
"She was being so sly. My statements were altered with Tipp-Ex," Patricia said.
"Every statement I got said I had £80,000 left but I didn't connect it because I didn't spend much money."
To prevent her mum becoming suspicious, Claire phoned her pretending to be a bank worker called Becky Day.
She tried the same trick again as Patricia's worries grew and called up claiming to work for the fraud squad.
This time, pretending to be a woman called Yvonne, Claire said police were investigating Patricia's son Andrew over the theft.
"She told me the police had been down to his house and I believed it," Patricia said.
"I was getting phone calls from the fraud squad and all sorts but it was all her."
The lies unravelled when Patricia tried to withdraw spending money for a holiday in Spain with her twin sister Anne.
It was to be her first holiday abroad since before she was married and the only break since a wedding trip to Dorset with her husband.
Patricia called her bank and found out the money was gone.
Claire, of Shevington Walk, off Holderness Road, east Hull, has now been sentenced at Hull Crown Court to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to theft.
Passing the sentence, recorder Julian Smith said he was taking into account letters of reference, Claire's previous good character and her young children.
A report by the Probation Service said she was remorseful and had offered to pay her mum back.
But the judge told her: "Your mother condemns herself for her naivety in allowing you free access.
"She's harsh on herself, because many would say she's entitled to the trust of her daughter.
"It's naive in the extreme to believe you will be able to repay the £60,000 you've taken. That's money that is lost."
Recorder Smith also ordered confiscation hearings to begin to see if any of the money could be reclaimed.
