FRAUDSTER BOUGHT £42K BMW IN MUM’S NAME

She got friend to pretend to be her mother to secure finance deal

A WOMAN who bought a £42,000 car in her mum’s name has been spared jail.

Heidi Carruthers asked her friend to masquerade as her mother before heading to a dealership.

The 35-year-old then took out a finance agreement on a BMW using her mother’s details without the victim knowing anything about it. However, her crime was rumbled when her mum became aware of the agreement after falling into arrears with repayments.

Now Carruthers – who has 34 previous convictions for 79 offences – has been sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after a judge at Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard she has turned her life around since the birth of her daughter in 2019.

Prosecutor Hunter Gray said Carruthers took out the finance agreement in September 2018. She was assisted by a woman who claimed to be the her mum.

Mr Gray said: “The finance was in the sum of £42,000. In due course, payments were not made and the defendant’s mother became aware of the arrangement taken out in her name. The defendant admitted what she had done.”

The court heard Carruthers’s mum was credit-blacklisted but she was in court to support her daughter. Carruthers, of Leacroft Road, Meir, pleaded guilty to fraud.

Steve Hennessey, mitigating, said it was a single offence and it happened nearly four years ago. She gave birth to her daughter in December 2019 and has since turned her life around.

Mr Hennessy said: “She is embarrassed, ashamed and remorseful. She has been offence-free in the last three years. The birth of her daughter motivated her to remain drug-free.”

He added that his client has not relapsed despite recent tragedies including her mum’s cancer diagnosis and the loss of her sister and best friend. As part of the suspended sentence Carruthers must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for 20 days and a four-month, electronically-monitored curfew from 9pm to 8am.

Judge Graeme Smith said: “The Heidi Carruthers I am sentencing today is a completely different person than the Heidi Carruthers who committed this offence in 2018. In September 2018 you arranged to attend a garage with a friend to buy a car on finance by having your friend masquerade as being your mother. You obtained a very valuable car at someone else’s expense.

“Ultimately your mother was a victim. She received a credit blacklist. The other victim was the finance company who ultimately did not recover the bulk of the money owed to them, in excess of £42,000.

“A number of things have changed since then, the birth of your daughter, you have now had a mental health diagnosis and a care plan. Since 2019, your offending has ceased.”