Cruel thief blew £100k he stole from own gran

HE BOUGHT MOTORBIKES AND HIGH-VALUE ITEMS

A YOUNG car mechanic who stole more than £117,000 from his 81-year-old grandmother has been ordered to pay her back just £13,000.

Derby Crown Court heard how Tyler Wiggins must sell all of his assets to raise the sum, which is a fraction of what took.

A short hearing was told how the 23-year-old, who was jailed in March, refused to leave his cell to attend court.

And if he does not pay his grandmother the cash within three months he could have an additional nine months added to the 18 he is already serving.

Recorder Adrian Reynolds said: “I find that the benefit figure was £117,256.60 and the available amount is £13,000 which are assets already in the possession of the police.”

The hearing took place under the Proceeds of Crime Act (or POCA), which allows the police to apply for cash to be seized from criminals who have made their money from ill-gotten gains. It is typically used after drug dealers have been sentenced and can see criminals forced to sell their properties, cars or jewellery to pay the cash back.

At his sentencing hearing in March the same court heard how Wiggins moved to live with his auntie in Derbyshire to escape drug and gambling issues and promptly stole the cash from his 81-year-old grandmother.

He bought motorbikes and other high-value items after seeing where his victim kept the passwords to her bank accounts at the retirement home where she lived. When he was caught he fled the area but after he was arrested and interviewed by the police he denied any wrongdoing, saying she was “rich and could easily afford it”.

Jailing him for 18 months at that March hearing, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “She was 81 and a lonely individual and she felt in some ways isolated.

“You thought you would get a thrill at the expense of your grandmother.”

David Outterside, prosecuting, said Wiggins went to live with his aunt in Brassington, near Ashbourne, in late 2018 to get away from problems he was having in the West Midlands. Wiggins, of Oval Road, Erdington, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to theft. Lucy Jones, mitigating, said her client left home at 16 with six GCSEs and became an apprentice mechanic and has worked for Volkswagen and Pirelli.

Miss Jones said: “A number of highvalue items were purchased by the defendant.

“They include two motorbikes, a watch and an iPad which are in the possession of the aunt and will go some way to paying back what he took.

“He was suffering with drug and alcohol issues and had debt.”

She was 81 and a lonely individual and she felt in some ways isolated.

Judge Robert Egbuna