Yorkshire carer jailed for defrauding £76,000 from her own mother while she suffered from dementia

Instead of making payments from a bank account for her mum’s care home fees Elizabeth Bond, 50, spent over £75,000 on day-to-day expenses for herself such as rent, utility bills, credit card payments and the purchase of a car.

Bradford Crown Court heard in March this year how mother-of-five Sylvia Bond was diagnosed with dementia in 2012 and her daughter subsequently lived with her and looked after her.

Prosecutor Abdul Shakoor said Bond registered the Lasting Power of Attorney in September 2014 and that required her to act in the best interests of her mother.

In 2015 Bond’s mother had to move into a care home and her home was sold for £183,000 with the money being put into a bank account.

By June 2017 social services were told that there was no money left for the care home fees and the fees were subsequently paid out of the public purse.

But an investigation involving the Office of the Public Guardian led to the revoking of Bond’s Lasting Power of Attorney and a police inquiry into her alleged fraud.

Mr Shakoor said the inquiry revealed that Bond, of Hardy Meadows, Grassington, had been withdrawing money and paying for her own living expenses and lifestyle from her mum’s account.

Bond, a care worker with no previous convictions, was initially questioned by police back in 2019, but she was not charged until the summer of 2023.

Bond admitted fraud by abuse of position in a sum totalling £76,798.24 and her barrister Susannah Proctor said she was a hard-working and dedicated woman who had expressed genuine remorse for her offending.

Miss Proctor said the money hadn’t been spent on holidays or luxury items.

Recorder Paul Reid described the delay in prosecuting Bond as “quite extraordinary”, but he concluded that the victim in the case had been the public purse.

“That in itself renders this a most serious offence because your offending deprived the public purse of over £75,000,” he told Bond.

Bond was jailed for 28 months and today (Mon) she appeared via a prison video link for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

During a short hearing Recorder Andrew Dallas was told that there was agreement over the confiscation order to be made against Bond.

Recorder Dallas said Bond’s benefit figure from her criminal conduct was said to be £93,693.85, but her currently available assets amounted to £43.83.

Bond was given three months to pay over the sum of £43.83 or face a further seven days in jail. Her barrister Jessica Strange said the available money was in two accounts belonging to Bond.