Spared jail, former PC who stole £60k from his own mum
A FORMER policeman who stole £60,000 from his elderly mother in an ‘abhorrent’ and ‘disgusting’ scam has been spared jail after the pensioner pleaded for mercy.
Andrew Rough and his wife Jean drained the bank accounts of 86-year-old Gladys Rough over nearly five years.
They spent her money on the mortgage of an upmarket home, a deposit for a summer house, laser eye surgery, plus hunting, shooting and fishing gear – including a game gun.
They also blew £700 a month on groceries in what prosecutors branded ‘their own version of [TV game show] Supermarket Sweep’.
Stirling Sheriff Court heard the pensioner was used ‘like a cash machine’ by the couple, both 58, who were unanimously found guilty of embezzlement after a ten-day trial in August.
They had been warned they faced jail but Sheriff William Gilchrist yesterday sentenced them to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
They were also ordered to pay £12,000 compensation each, under a three-year order, and were banned from having contact with Mrs Rough for three years, unless at her wish.
Onlookers in the public benches muttered ‘disgrace’ over the ruling.
Sheriff Gilchrist said: ‘I do not intend to send you to prison. A prison sentence effectively excludes any realistic prospect of compensation.
‘Your actions were dishonest... there were also problems of naivety, recklessness and negligence – rashness – in your decision-making.
‘The jury clearly rejected your defence that you had Mrs Rough’s consent to spend her money.’
He added: ‘I’m conscious that she [Mrs Rough] did state that she did not want to see you go to prison.’
Earlier Lewis Kennedy, defending Mr Rough, said his client had expressed ‘regret and shame’, adding: ‘Prison might be a difficult experience for a former police officer.’ Prosecutor Sarah Lumsden described the scam as an ‘abhorrent, disgusting, disgraceful abuse of a lady in her 80s – and it went on for years’.
The jury heard the Roughs, of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, began withdrawing the pensioner’s money after her late husband, also Andrew, had a stroke and was taken into hospital.
She gave them her bank cards to do her weekly shop and pay bills, gave them power of attorney and handed over unopened bank statements.
From September 2010 to July 2015 the pair made ‘repeated’ withdrawals and purchases, taking up to £12,000 a year and finally running one account down to only 37 pence – causing a direct debit to bounce and her phone to be cut off. This meant her panic alarm stopped working, prompting social workers to call police.
Outside court, Rough – who won a bravery award for saving someone from a knife attack – said: ‘Absolutely nothing to say. We’ve said enough.’
Last night, the Crown Office said: ‘The Crown will consider the sentence and give consideration to whether it might be unduly lenient.’
‘Disgusting, disgraceful abuse’