A woman defrauded the elderly couple in their 80s who helped raise her out of £150,000 by creating false documents to suggest she was purchasing a house with their money. In reality, she was using the money on staying at the Celtic Manor, travelling and buying expensive clothes.
Lucy Paginton, 28, of Newport, was partially raised by her victims, Jack, 88, and Mary Hillier, 90, from the age of two, and they described thinking "highly" of her, and trusted her with their finances. It later transpired that their trust in her was misplaced.
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Tuesday heard the fraud began in 2017 with the defendant using various methods to defraud the Hilliers out of as much as she could. Addressing the court, prosecutor Thomas Stanway said: "She convinced them a property sale was being completed, which it wasn't, and told Mr Hillier that civil claims were progressing when they were in fact a fiction." For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.
The defendant created a number of false documents using legitimate logos and headers in order to fool the couple, which added an air of sophistication to her deception. These included fabricated bank statements purporting to be from Halifax and letters from housebuilding company Redrow which falsely stated a housing plot had been reserved for the victims.
The majority of the fraud concerned claims made by the defendant she was purchasing houses in respect of herself and her partner, and the Hilliers, who had given her money for deposits. They had planned to sell their home, move into the new property and would leave it to Paginton in the event of their deaths. More than £100,000 was paid to the defendant in bank transfers and cash payments, in the belief Paginton was dealing with the house purchases on their behalf.
When it became apparent the sale wasn't going through, the defendant created false bank statements and solicitor letters to give the Hilliers a false sense of impression regarding the funds in their bank accounts and that they were entitled to compensation.
There were also fictitious letters from HM Courts and Tribunal Service and a solicitors firm, after Paginton lied to Mr Hillier by falsely claiming she had instructed legal representation in respect of a civil claim made on his behalf to remove a caution he received. The letters she created gave the impression he was owed further compensation and he was required to pay £12,000 in fees, but this payment was not made.
The total sum the Hilliers had been defrauded of came to £150,000 and an attempt had been made to defraud them out of a further £12,000. A report was made to the police and the defendant claimed she had accepted "gifts" from the Hilliers and denied creating false documentation. An examination of her bank account revealed the money had been spent on stays at the Celtic Manor, payments to high end clothing company Flannels and to various travel companies.
Paginton, of Cot Farm Circle, later pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud by false representation, a week before a trial was due to begin. The court heard she was of previous good character.
In victim personal statements read to the court, Jack Hillier said: "Since we realised we had been defrauded by Lucy it has been very difficult for us. The whole investigation was unnecessarily stressful, lack of sleep and made me unwell. I am taking medication as a result of this and I am being treated for stress, anxiety and depression which have been caused by her actions.
"We have been left with nothing, my wife and I spent our whole lives working and saving money and hoped to enjoy retirement. However, the defendant has left us with no money, no pension or any savings. We are broken by these matters, we gave the defendant the world and thought the world of her, bought her cars, gave her gifts and took her on holiday. We always helped her but she deceived us which has led to my physical health deteriorating as a result of her actions. She hurt us after raising her like our daughter. We thought the world of her and always tried to look after her by giving her money and taking her on holiday.
"We trusted her to help us as we grew older but she took advantage of us. Instead of telling us the truth she tried to get more money out of us by falsifying documents. It's hard because we still love her but she broke our trust. Life has been a living hell for the last three years, family members have distanced themselves from us despite us being innocent victims. We are an elderly couple and should be looking forward to enjoying our future."
In her statement, Mary Hillier said: "Since Frank and I discovered she was defrauding us our lives have been turned upside down. Every night going to bed I find it difficult to sleep and we're constantly worried about the case, the stress of it all has made us unwell. It hurts because she lied to us and we showed her so much love, gave her holidays, money and she never went without. We were willing to buy her a house but she decided to steal from us instead. It's affected my mental health and my husband's physical and mental health.
"We have been unable to move on and left with very little as a result of the defendant's selfish actions. We have lost everything we have worked hard for and family have distanced themselves from us. We couldn't let her get away with this and can't believe she did this. We still love the defendant but she hurt us and broke our trust. We hope to get justice from this case and make Lucy realise the consequences of her actions."
In mitigation, Neil Evans said his client was immature for her age but cared for others to the detriment of herself. He described the victims as a "hands on auntie and uncle" who "financially spoiled the defendant" who he said "was brought up in financial circumstances her employment could not afford". He said the defendant's fraud started off relatively small but "snowballed" out of her control. The barrister added that she was a single-mother and had an elderly grandfather who was aged 92.
Judge Carl Harrison said the defendant subjected her victims to "repeated dishonest behaviour". He sentenced Paginton to four years and eight months imprisonment, and she sobbed as she was led down to the cells.
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