U.K.: Son, 63, Gets 8-Months Prison Sentence For Fleecing Mother, 97, Out Of £180,000

LONDON (Hendon & Finchley Times), February 4, 2008: A Temple Fortune man who conned his elderly mother out of more than £180,000 to finance his luxurious lifestyle has received an eight-month prison sentence. Raymond Green, 63, of Dorchester Gardens, left his 97-year-old mother Bertha with just £86 and a number of unpaid bills after spending thousands of pounds of her money on luxury goods at Harvey Nichols and John Lewis. He also tried to persuade his mother to cut the rest of her family out of her will and leave everything to him. Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC sentenced Green to eight months' imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court last Friday after he admitted four charges of dishonestly retaining wrongful credit and one of using criminal property. Green was also served with a confiscation order for £11,200 pounds, to be paid within three months or risk a further six months in prison. Tim Devlin, prosecuting, said: "Mrs Green's flat had no mortgage and she had a regular income from £30,000 of pensioner bonds. She had money in the Abbey National and savings. "Her only outgoings were utility bills, a service charge for the flat and she had meals on wheels delivered every day. These were all paid for without difficulty from her account." Green took over power of attorney from his niece, Nicola Penwarden, from Brighton, in 2000 after returning to the UK from South Africa. He then began to strip her account of money by remortgaging her Hampstead flat for £123,000 and cashing in her £30,000 of bonds. When Mrs Penwarden found out what Green had done, she reported him to the Court of Protection. Here it was described by a civil judge as "one of the worst cases of financial mismanagement" she had ever seen, and the case was referred to Barnet police. By the time of Mrs Green's death in October last year, she was no longer able to afford the upkeep of her husband's grave. Barnet police chief superintendent Stephen Kavanagh said: "We are committed to protecting the vulnerable, as the elderly are too often the forgotten victims of crime. This was a despicable betrayal of trust and, working with partners in the Crown Prosecution Service, we are satisfied with today's result." Detective Constable Liz Clements of Barnet Police added: "Today's sentence of eight months in prison for Raymond Green brings closure to this complex enquiry in what was a despicable crime of a son taking advantage and stealing from his vulnerable elderly mother by abusing his position of trust." By Rebecca Lowe © Copyright 2001-2008 Newsquest Media Group