A grandmother was left to 'die a pauper' after her granddaughter raided her finances, despite being entrusted with managing her affairs. Dannielle Ramsbotham, 34, was appointed deputy to her grandmother's estate after the pensioner developed dementia and was placed in a nursing home in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire.
Rather than protecting her grandmother's assets, Ramsbotham 'rinsed' her accounts, siphoning off more than £30,000 from the proceeds of the sale of her home. By the time her grandmother passed away in October 2018, there was insufficient money left to even cover the cost of her funeral.
Discovery of the theft
The theft only came to light when Ramsbotham's aunt contacted the funeral director to arrange her mother's ashes and discovered the funeral bill had never been paid. Preston Crown Court was told that Ramsbotham's mother had initially applied to the Court of Protection for deputyship when her mother became incapable of managing her own affairs. However, the application was turned down due to her having been declared bankrupt, and she told her daughter to assume the role instead.
Judge Michael Maher said: "Whatever initial reluctance there may have been you quickly and zealously enjoyed the spoils of your fraud. What you did was appalling. The simple and fundamental requirement was for you to safeguard your grandma's money. What you did, in fact, was to rinse the account using it as your own piggybank."
Spending spree and sentencing
Analysis of Ramsbotham's bank account showed money transferred to her sister's account, with reference to sex toys and drug dealers, but the court heard the references were a joke between the women. The defendant, of Brownedge Lane, Bamber Bridge, spent money on her own rent, meals out and other items for herself. She later pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position.
Judge Maher said: "When this money hit your account in December 2017 you must have thought you had won the Christmas lottery. You had nothing in your own account. Within 10 months your grandmother's estate had bled out of your account. You had spent the lot. Your grandmother died a pauper. Dementia robbed her of her capacity. The only small mercy is that she did not realise her own grandchild had taken advantage of her desperate neurological condition. There wasn't even enough money left to pay for her funeral arrangements."
The judge said he accepted Ramsbotham had paid some money back but said the consequences extended far beyond the financial loss. He said: "Your aunt discovered what had happened only after she made repeated enquiries after her mother's death. She learned the funeral director hadn't been paid and still retained her mother's ashes. You lied to her and told her her mother's money was held in a bank account. Your aunt showed dogged determination in investigating this. She spent years pursuing this with the Office of Public Guardian, the Pension Service and the police."
The judge said Ramsbotham has no previous convictions and works as a support worker in adult social care. He said he was obliged to consider the delay between her offending and the sentence. She also has three children who rely on her for support, the court heard.
Judge Maher handed down a sentence of 14 months suspended for 12 months with 150 hours of unpaid work and five days rehabilitation activity requirements. He ordered her to return to court having completed the lion's share of the sentence. He added: "If you seek to play the bleeding heart violin with me, 'I've got three children, I haven't got time', bring a bag with you because there will be one direction you are going and that is down those stairs."
