A Bootle woman who stole £13,000 of her elderly mum’s savings meant for care home fees was ordered to pay back £740.
Mum-of-three Teresa Adeleye was jailed for 12 months in August this year after she admitted stealing from Joan Healey, 84.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how the 50-year-old, of Pennington Avenue, Bootle, siphoned the money away between April 1, 2012 and April 30 last year.
Adeleye had been granted power of attorney over her mum’s finances, after they reconciled following a long period without contact in 2001.
But she started failing to pay her mum’s bills at Orchard Lodge care home in Seaforth and could not explain why the payments had been missed.
The court heard that Adeleye had paid some fees and money towards basic items like clothing and toiletries.
But at one stage concerned care home staff were forced to buy her mum a pair of slippers out of their own money.
The single mum denied living a lavish lifestyle and said she had taken the money because she had fallen into debt.
The sentencing judge, Recorder Christopher Alldis, branded her actions “despicable” and the defendant wailed in the dock as she was sent down.
Today a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing was held at the court, which Adeleye did not attend, as she was still on her way to Liverpool from HM Prison Holloway.
Carmel Wilde, prosecuting, said the total benefit figure was £13,414 and Adeleye’s available assets in her bank account were £740.
Frank Dillon, defending, said his client had already tried to pay back money to her mum via the Crown Prosecution Service, “in an effort to make good some of those debts”.
The judge, Recorder Paul Reid, QC, made a confiscation order in her absence of £740.
He said Adeleye would face a further month in prison if she did not pay the money within 42 days.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/