A woman, Kathryn Walker, whose soldier son, Richard Walker, died in Afghanistan in 2013, has been sentenced to three years in prison for squandering more than £450,000 left in her son’s will for someone else in Horsley Road, Barmston, Washington.
The fraud was discovered after a relative of the intended beneficiary heard rumours that Walker had become “minted” after the death of her son, Sapper Walker.
According to Mirror on Tuesday, she spent the money on vehicles, caravans, horses, private number plates, and paying off her own debts.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that after deductions, Sapper Walker’s estate amounted to £455,774. Walker received a check for that amount in 2014. When the intended beneficiary’s representative did not receive statements about the money, she became concerned and attempted to contact Walker’s solicitors, who told her they couldn’t help her.
Walker pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of trust and was jailed for three years and four months.
Judge Julie Clemitson told her, “At the age of 56 years old without having been in court before, it’s a tragedy you appear here today in respect of such a serious offence.
“Some of it was spent in an altruistic fashion – you paid for medical treatment for a friend’s child. Some of it was spent on pure extravagance including a private number plate and horse box.
“You had spent the entirety of the inheritance and there’s now absolutely nothing left. This was a fraud which took place over a sustained period of time and it was a gross breach of trust. It is the loss of a life-changing sum of money.”
Culled from Punch
