Addict stole mum’s savings to pay debt

Cocaine user jailed for taking cash from other elderly victims

A crack cocaine user cleared out her 74-year-old mum’s savings and stole from a string of frail and elderly victims in an effort to pay off her drug debts.

Elizabeth Reid was acting as her mother’s carer when she obtained her bank details by pretending she was buying groceries.

Instead she used her bank cards at locations in Kinross, Cowdenbeath and

Dunfermline to take out almost £2,000 in under a month.

Reid, 43, of Milnathort, was jailed for a year when she appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court.

A woman who helped herself to her elderly mother’s life savings has been sent to prison for a year.

Elizabeth Reid was locked up after she admitted targeting her own mother and several other frail and elderly victims to fund her secret drug habit.

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael told sobbing Reid she had given him no option but to send her to prison for the heartless crimes.

Fiscal depute Gavin Burton told Dundee Sheriff Court Reid moved in with her mother in May last year and quickly became her full-time carer.

“During that period, the complainer gave the accused access to her bank cards and PIN and allowed her to do shopping.

“The accused moved out around January 30 this year.

“On January 30, the complainer attended a cash machine but was puzzled when it appeared she had insufficient funds to make a transaction.

“She normally has around £500 or £600 in the account. She checked her balance to discover there was only £23 left.

“The complainer confronted the accused about her suspicions.

“The accused stated she was sorry and would pay the money back. No payments have been made.”

Reid, Old Perth Road, Milnathort, admitted fraudulently obtaining £1,982.42 from 74-year-old Elizabeth Reid Sr between December 31 last year and January 29.

Reid, 43, admitted using the cards in various locations in Kinross, Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline to obtain nearly £2,000 in under a month.

She also admitted stealing £100 cash belonging to a man – whose age was not given – in Montgomery Street, Kinross, on February 4.

Reid admitted that on various occasions between February 5 and 24 she stole £600 from a 92-year-old in Churchill Road, Kinross.

Reid also admitted stealing £120 cash from an 87-year-old in Station Road, Kinross, on February 20.

Reid was granted High Court bail on March 6, but admitted breaching it less than two weeks later by being back in Kinross.

Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said: “At the time of the first offences, she was taking crack cocaine and Valium and gives little information about these offences at all.

“She had gone into debt with drugs. She was giving money to these people in the hope of not having trouble brought to her mother’s door.”

In 2018, Reid admitted befriending an elderly Alzheimer’s sufferer so she could steal her bank card and plunder cash from her savings.

She stopped the confused 76-year-old in the street and managed to convince her to invite Reid back to her home.

Brazen Reid then managed to pass herself off as an old friend when a carer visited the victim before stealing her victim’s bank card and withdrawing £300.

Reid moved in with her mother in May last year and quickly became her full-time carer.