© Provided by Bournemouth Daily Echo Mark Matthews, 54 and of Bure Lane, Christchurch, leaving Bournemouth Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

A GARDENER who defrauded a vulnerable housebound 95-year-old woman out of just shy of £25,000 to fund his alcohol and gambling habit has avoided going behind bars.

Christchurch man Mark Matthews abused a breach of trust placed in him as he committed the offence over a period covering more than two years, buying huge numbers of scratch cards.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard Matthews had been given permission to use the victim’s bank card to pay for gardening work, as well as for odd jobs and rare occasions when the woman would need shopping bought.

A statement from the victim’s daughter, who is her power of attorney and lives in Australia, said: “This has been so gutting because we trusted Mark. We let him into mum’s home.”

She added: “He’s a nice man and that makes it even more difficult to ever allow someone into mum’s home again.

“It is the lying and covering up when we realised something was wrong that I keep coming back to.”

She said they wanted to know why Matthews took the money so they could try to get closure.

The court heard the victim initially refused to believe Matthews was behind the fraud, telling her daughter: “It couldn’t be Mark, he’s a lovely man.”

© Provided by Bournemouth Daily Echo Bournemouth Echo: The sentencing hearing took place at Bournemouth Crown Court


The sentencing hearing took place at Bournemouth Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

Prosecuting, Sophie Johns said the victim had a number of falls in 2020 which affected her mobility. The elderly woman has dementia while there had been concerns about her giving her bank card to carers to make purchases for her.

The defendant, 54 and of Bure Lane, Mudeford, met the victim in 2012 when he became her gardener.

The victim’s daughter said they considered him to be trustworthy and someone who could help with day-to-day shopping.

Matthews was given permission to use her bank card in 2019 although, the court heard, the use for shopping was supposed to be limited as arrangements had been made to have food deliveries to the victim’s address in Mudeford.

The family first realised something was wrong when there were issues about paying for her care, which should not have been the case as she received a pension and had savings.

The defendant said he would help and claimed there had been a problem with the pension that would be resolved.

Matthews was asked to help set up mobile banking for the victim’s account but he never did this, Ms Johns said. He also failed to leave her bank statements out at her home as requested.

A member of staff at the council became aware that something was not right. They contacted the victim’s bank, who said many cash withdrawals had been made and the account was overdrawn.

Police became involved and ascertained Matthews had taken approximately £30,000 from the account although around £5,000 of this was for legitimate reasons.

The defendant was arrested in April. In interview he made admissions and said he would repay the money.

“He said he used the money to buy scratch cards and once he started he couldn’t stop,” Ms Johns said.

Matthews, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a single charge of fraud by false representation and he was sentenced at the hearing on Friday, November 4.

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Mitigating, David Freeland said the defendant recognised the detriment his offending had on the victim and her family from an emotional point of view.

“He undertook gardening, shopping, washing and other domestic tasks for her,” Mr Freeland said.

“There was a period of some eight years where he acted very much in good faith.”

In relation to his false claims over issues with the victim’s pension, Mr Freeland said Matthews “panicked and tried to escape the inevitable consequences but there came a point where he must come clean”.

The court heard that following the death of his mother in 2017, the defendant started drinking around two bottles of wine a night and smoking 60 cigarettes a day.

The situation worsened when the first Covid lockdown led to his work coming to a halt and him feeling very isolated, Mr Freeland said.

He became hooked on buying scratch cards, up to 50 a week, and he “lost the plot”.

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“Simply he used money from the victim to fund his alcohol and gambling habits,” Mr Freeland said.

The barrister said Matthews made “full and frank admissions” in interview, while he had made a “really serious commitment to put things right”.

He was selling his house so he had money available to pay the victim back, he had stopped drinking alcohol, he was working to stop smoking and he had sought help for his gambling.

Mr Freeland described him as a “man already on the road to recovery”.

Judge William Mousley KC accepted submissions from Mr Freeland and imposed a suspended sentence.

The judge said this decision was supported by the strong personal mitigation and the realistic prospect of rehabilitation. He added that there would be some impact on others if he was jailed and there was a sufficient community punishment available.

Matthews received a sentence of two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a requirement to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay £24,996.38 compensation and £425 costs.

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