Dad must sell vehicle after inheritance theft
A DAD who stole his teenage son’s £38,000 inheritance and spent it on drink, drugs, and a holiday will have to sell his only asset to pay back some of the cash.
Daniel Caulfield’s mother had set up a savings fund for her grandson to be given to him when he turned 18.
However when the generous grandmother died, the defendant became a trustee for the accounts – and promptly emptied them. In August former Llanelli carpet cleaning boss Caulfield was sentenced to 20 months in prison suspended for two years and ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation course at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud.
When the case came back to court for a proceeds of crime hearing Craig Jones, for the prosecution, said the defendant had benefited from his criminal conduct in the sum of £38,167.99 but financial investigators found he only had one asset - a vehicle valued at £2,000. Mr Jones asked judge Paul Thomas QC to issue a confiscation order in the sum of £2,000 and then to make a compensation order in the same amount payable to Caulfield’s victim.
Daniel Richard Caulfield, aged 38, now of Milton, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, was given three months to sell the vehicle and satisfy the order or face two months in prison in default.
At the sentencing hearing in August the court heard that in 2010 Caulfield’s mother put money into a National Savings and Investments account for her grandson, Caulfield’s estranged son.
When the woman passed away in 2015 the grandson had not yet reached the age of 18 so the defendant and his sister became join trustees of the fund. However, unknown to his sibling, Caulfield emptied the accounts and spent the money, most of it on drink and drugs.
In an impact statement read to the court, the teenage victim said he had planned to use to money to go to university or to put it towards buying a house.