A woman who stole more than £70,000 from her poorly grandfather in a fraud spree has been jailed for 18 months.
Madline Shaw, 32, from Borrowby Village, near Thirsk, was given power of attorney over her grandfather John Mallaby’s finances after he was taken into a care home following a fall at his home, York Crown Court heard.
She then abused that power to systematically steal from his bank account and strip him of his life savings and pension while he was living at Leeming Garth Care Home in Northallerton, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.
She said that Mr Mallerby was taken into the home after injuring himself in a fall. This led to an argument between Shaw and her mother – the victim’s daughter – who wanted him moved to Scotland to be with her.
Shaw wouldn’t allow this and Mr Mallaby was moved into the care home in August 2019.
In November of that year, Shaw was given lasting power of attorney to look after her frail grandfather’s finances, which was followed by a capacity assessment by care professionals who decided that he was no longer capable of making his own financial transactions.
However, by January the following year, staff were becoming increasingly concerned about Shaw’s handling of his finances and placed restrictions on his bank account.
At that stage, Shaw was given the benefit of the doubt and simply given advice on handling her grandfather’s account.
In November 2020, Mr Mallaby’s account was “freed” again to allow Shaw to continue looking after his finances under.
Shaw, who worked as a horse rider and groomer, wasn’t charged with any fraudulence up to that point, but from November 2021 onwards, her grandfather’s account depleted by £125,227, of which she had invested £53,626 into a property-development scheme, in which she herself was scammed and lost all the money.
Shaw had transferred the rest of the money, £71,601, from her grandfather’s account into her own and spent it on baby items, pre-school fees, dinner money and a subscription to Fabletics, a bespoke sportswear and footwear brand.
“During that time, Mr Mallaby’s care-home fees to Leeming Garth went unpaid,” said Ms Morrison.
It also meant that he was unable to pay for essentials such as toiletries.
Even after Mr Mallaby’s death in September 2021, Shaw was still taking money from his account for her own ends.
“There were five transactions by the defendant from his account which took place after his death,” added Ms Morrison.
Shaw’s mother, who was the executor of Mr Mallaby’s will, checked his finances and realised he was in arrears with his care-home fees, despite having had £100,000 in his account in November 2020 and being in receipt of two regular pension payments.
She contacted police and Shaw was duly arrested and charged with one count of fraud, which she initially denied, only to plead guilty on the day her trial was due to take place. Her basis of plea, that she stole £71,601, was accepted by the prosecution.
Zarreen Alan-Cheetham said that Shaw had been acting in what she thought were her grandfather’s “best interests” when she invested over £53,000 of his money into the property-investment scheme, although “she now understands and accepts that it was not” after losing a total £100,000 in the scam.
The authorities later confirmed she had been scammed in the doomed property venture after seeing some of the messages on her Instagram account.
She said that Shaw, a mother-of-two with no previous convictions, had worked as a hairdresser and at a hotel until being given power of attorney over her grandfather’s finances.
She added that Shaw had not used the money stolen from her grandfather to buy luxury items and was using some of the money for the upkeep of the many horses he owned.
Recorder Patrick Palmer described Shaw’s offences as “mean” and so serious that despite “powerful” mitigation, only an immediate jail sentence could be justified.
Shaw was given an 18-month jail sentence but was told she would only serve half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.
The judge set in train financial-confiscation proceedings against Shaw which will determine how much she repays for her ill-gotten gains.
Following sentence, PC Emma Harris, investigating officer for North Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “Madeline Shaw betrayed the trust placed in her to act in her frail grandfather’s interests and ensure his money was used for his benefit.
“She has lied about what she did with his money but thankfully, when faced with the evidence, has pleaded guilty. She is now facing the consequences.”
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