‘Black sheep’ raided thousands from his great-aunt’s account

A“black sheep of the family” drained the bank account of his 90-year-old great-aunt of thousands of pounds.

Michael Clark, from Cardiff, stole £4,650 from his vulnerable family member after finding her debit card and Pin then withdrawing hundreds of pounds from cashpoints.

Sentencing him at Cardiff Crown Court, Recorder Simon Foster described the offending as “despicable”.

The court heard the defendant’s great-aunt had “severe dementia” and her niece – the defendant’s mother – looked after her financial affairs.

Thomas Roberts, prosecuting, said her pension went into the HSBC account, which was used to pay her care home fees.

Clark found her bank card and Pin and withdrew £200 on January 3.

Prosecutors said he made withdrawals on 11 days that month taking out between £100 and £500 at a time.

Mr Roberts added: “Suspicions within the family fell upon the defendant pretty quickly.”

The court heard he was living with his mother after being released from prison and admitted what he had done, telling her he had spent the cash on drugs.

Clark was interviewed by police and suggested he would have been given the money if he had asked for it, which he later accepted was not true.

Prosecutors said he had been before the courts for 52 previous offences and had two relevant previous convictions for making unauthorised withdrawals after accessing a bank card.

The defendant was judged by the Probation Service to present a high risk of re-offending, particularly if he goes back to drug use.

Clark, 41, of Pearl Street in Adamsdown, admitted theft.

The court heard he had to leave his mother’s home following the offending and they were not speaking.

The court heard he has not used drugs for several months and would lose his accommodation if he went to prison.

Recorder Foster described the offending as “thoroughly nasty” and told the defendant: “You were playing the black sheep of the family.”

Clark was given a one-year jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 25 days of a rehabilitation activity.