A ‘spending addict’ who stole more than £12k from her step-grandmother was accused of ‘milking’ her victim.

Mum-of-three Emily Ellwood dipped into her elderly relative’s bank account over nine months between April and December 2019 – decimating the woman’s savings and meaning her house had to be sold to cover care home fees.

Sentencing her to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years at Oxford Crown Court on Monday (March 13), Recorder John Bate-Williams told 36-year-old Ellwood: “You dishonestly used account details initially given to you for authorised purposes to milk money from a bank account held by your step grandmother.

“This would have been a serious criminal offence in any event, but of course what makes it particularly serious is the fact [the victim] was suffering from dementia.

“You were trusted by her and members of her family. You betrayed the trust by stealing very large amounts of her savings.”

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In total, she was found to have taken more than £12,200 from her grandmother’s account, using her bank details to pay for items online.

In an impact statement read to the court, the victim’s daughter said Ellwood had ‘driven a wedge’ between the three family members who had powers of attorney over the woman’s affairs.

The defendant had ‘completely betrayed’ her victim’s trust and had taken advantage of the generosity she had shown her step-granddaughter over the years, she added.

The court was told that Ellwood was initially invited to a voluntary interview at the police station in 2020.

She either ‘made excuses’ for not being able to attend or ‘ignored’ the police officers’ requests.

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The defendant was eventually arrested and interviewed in November 2020. She answered no questions to all comments put to her.

A financial investigator had looked whether the mum had any assets that could be sold and the funds used to compensate the victim. However, any items bought online were ‘used or damaged and therefore not suitable to be sold’, the prosecutor said.

Ellwood, of Garston Lane, Wantage, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to fraud. She had one previous conviction – also for fraud and for which she received a suspended jail sentence – dating back almost a decade.

Mitigating, Emma Hornby said her client was ‘truly ashamed of what she did’. At the time of the offending she was suffering ‘significant trauma and grief’ following the death of her mother.

It was said that Ellwood’s ‘vice is spending’. “When she feels sad or when she feels low, as a way of self-medicating perhaps she turns to spending.”

The defendant’s claim that she was remorseful was contrasted by the judge with her comments to the probation officer preparing a pre-sentence report. The officer concluded that in Ellwood’s mind the use of her grandmother’s bank card did not harm anyone as there ‘was no person present’.

Recorder Bate-Williams said the defendant must complete 150 hours of unpaid work and up to 35 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions as part of her suspended sentence.

She was ordered to pay £12,261 in compensation. Ellwood offered to pay the sum at the rate of £25 a month. At that rate it will take more than 40 years to recompensate her grandmother.