Callous cleaner stole £20k from sick gran to put bar in garden

fridge, carpets, shutters, lighting and was adorned with pennants, signs and other decorations.

Helen Webb admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position but her husband denied any wrongdoing.

But a jury at Hull Crown Court took less than an hour to find him guilty of two offences of using criminal property Helen Webb, left, took money from her gran, right, so that her husband could build a personal garden bar for the couple at their home between May 1 and June 30, 2015, after a two-day trial.

Claire Holmes, prosecuting, said: “The defendant’s wife, Helen Webb, has accepted being responsible for criminal conduct.

“She had been taking monies that belonged to her grandmother.

“At the time she was about 95. She’d had a stroke and suffered from dementia.

“The Crown’s case in relation to this defendant, Gary Webb, is that he would have known that part of the money was used to pay for a holiday and a shed.” Gary Webb insisted he had “no involvement” with the couple’s finances.

He claimed to have never seen a bank statement or a wage slip and called their arrangement “old-fashioned”.

He said the pair had only holidayed abroad “four or five” times during their marriage.

But he was overjoyed when his dream of building a garden bar came true.

Gary Webb said: “She’s known I’ve wanted one.

“She told me we had sufficient funds to do it and that made my always day. I was over the moon.” He also told Steven Garth, defending, that he was “ecstatic” when his wife told him she was taking him on holiday to Mallorca.

Gary Webb said he did not know his wife had been stealing from her grandmother until “police knocked at the door”.

He said: “I was shocked, embarrassed, disappointed that she didn’t trust me to tell me what was going on.

“I honestly didn’t know she was stealing any money,” he added.

The couple will be sentenced tomorrow.