A mother and son have been sentenced for systematically stealing £8,500 from a terminally ill 85-year-old woman's bank account over nearly a year, leaving her unable to pay bills, buy food, or fund her own funeral.
Linda Walkden, 68, and her son Robbie Walkden, 36, of Perrins Road in Burtonwood, Warrington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. The thefts took place between June 2023 and May 2024, before Sheila Skelhorn died in June 2024. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer in late 2023.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday that the pair used Mrs Skelhorn's bank card for cash withdrawals and online shopping on sites including Amazon and Etsy. A total of £2,226.13 was taken while she was an inpatient at hospital in April 2024.
Cover-up using SlothMove
The defendants covered their tracks by using a website called SlothMove to redirect Mrs Skelhorn's bank statements to Robbie Walkden's address. Prosecuting, Iain Criddle said: "Perhaps one of the more unpleasant aspects of this case is that they actually used her bank account to pay for SlothMove to redirect the bank statements."
As a result of the thefts, Mrs Skelhorn's regular finance payments and household bills could not be paid. In February 2024, she became upset after learning she had less money than she thought and was concerned she had insufficient money to buy food.
The fraud was discovered by Carol Nordquist, the goddaughter of Mrs Skelhorn's late husband, who had power of attorney. She flew from the south of France to the UK to investigate after becoming suspicious.
Previous conviction for stealing from grandmother
Robbie Walkden had previously been jailed for 20 months in 2021 for two counts of fraud against the same victim. The court heard that the family had become estranged but reconnected in June 2023 when Mrs Skelhorn moved into a bungalow in Burtonwood after becoming lonely during the covid pandemic.
When arrested on July 10 2024, police seized a "large quantity" of goods that appeared to be high value, but many designer items turned out to be counterfeit. Robbie Walkden admitted that many transactions had been "carried out by him for his benefit", while Linda Walkden claimed her mother made "frequent impulse purchases" and that she had withdrawn cash on her behalf.
Victim's goddaughter paid for funeral
Mrs Nordquist said in a statement that she had "loved Mrs Skelhorn as an aunt" and had promised her husband John before his death in 2018 that she would look after his wife. She had suspected Robbie Walkden of stealing around £7,000 in 2019 but did not report him after he apologised and gave a card saying he was sorry.
The court heard that Mrs Skelhorn was left "agitated" after phone calls and visits from her daughter and grandson, leading to concerns she was "being put under pressure". Mrs Nordquist eventually moved back to the UK to deal with Mrs Skelhorn's funeral, which she had to pay for herself because insufficient money was left in the account.
Sentencing, Recorder Emma Fisher said: "Mrs Skelhorn was, at the time, 85 years old. She was in ill health. She had cancer. She died in 2024. She was forgetful. She was hard of hearing and, perhaps worst of all, she trusted you." She described the offences as "an absolutely appalling series of thefts" and "awful, quite abhorrent".
Robbie Walkden was handed two years behind bars. Linda Walkden received an 18-month imprisonment suspended for two years with a six-month curfew from 7pm to 7am.
