A gambling addict stole almost £32,000 from a severely brain-damaged woman’s account to squander on his habit.
Karl Robson, 28, stole the money from the account of the physically and mentally disabled woman who was a member of his partner’s family.
The woman’s brain had not developed from infancy and she had never walked or talked, Teesside Crown Court was told.
Karl Robson, 28, stole almost £32,000 from a severely brain-damaged woman to fund his online gambling habit
Robson stole £31,957 that had been saved over several years from benefits and gifts. It was to be used for respite and future around-the-clock care.
The former serviceman left just 36p in the account which was discovered by the victim’s mother who handled her financial affairs.
Prosecutor Emma Atkinson said the mother discovered a series of transactions with cash going into Robson’s account.
He tearfully confessed to her two days later and handed himself in to police.
He had been given the bank details for a specific reason but kept them despite having been asked to get rid of them.
Judge James Brown said: ‘It’s a pretty spectacular breach of trust. It’s hard to think of a more vulnerable victim.’
He set up a banking app and withdrew money in a ‘misguided attempt’ to sort out his finances and win back gambling losses, said the judge.
‘You didn’t win the money back and you just got yourself deeper and deeper into trouble,’ he added.
‘There’s only ever one winner, by and large.’
In a personal statement, the mother said she was ‘shocked at first but has grown to forgive the defendant’ as he strived to repay the money.
She said he was remorseful, hard-working and acted out of character because of his gambling addiction.
She still considered him part of the family, wanted things to get ‘back to normal’ and did not want him to lose his job or go to prison.
Robson, from Grangetown, Middlesbrough, admitted the theft between July and September last year.
Robson has been spared jail after appearing at Teesside Crown Court. He has been given an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years with 80 hours of unpaid work, a three-month curfew between 11pm and 5am and 20 days of rehabilitation activity
Andrew Turton, mitigating, said: ‘It was the gambler’s trait of always trying to win the money back.’
He said Robson still helped the family, including looking after the disabled woman, he was deeply remorseful and wanted to put things right.
Robson earned £1,400 per month as a shift worker, had repaid £1,200 and hoped to reimburse the entire sum in five to six years, with his blameless partner now holding the purse strings.
‘He will work whatever hours are offered by way of overtime,’ added Mr Turton.
‘As a valued member of staff, his employer has indicated he will keep his job if he keeps his liberty.’
Mr Turton said prison would have a ‘disproportionate’ impact on the father’s family and it would mean he could pay little back.
In total, Robson spent £53,889 gambling online.
Judge Brown said: ‘He’s very fortunate that the family are taking such a benign attitude towards him.
‘And he owes that family a lot.’
Sentencing, he said: ‘This offence is further evidence, if indeed further evidence is needed, of the pernicious effect of online gambling.’
He said Robson was normally a hard-working decent man whose addiction blighted his and others’ lives.
He described the theft as ‘the most gross breach of trust’ betraying a very vulnerable woman and her family.
‘I can only imagine their shock,’ he added.
‘You are extremely fortunate in the choice or the availability of such supportive family members. Others would not take such a benign view.’
He said Robson probably panicked over his finances at first then acted in a more planned deceitful way but accepted his remorse.
‘Many would think, Mr Robson, that your actions in defrauding this vulnerable young woman to fund a gambling habit would merit immediate custody.
‘And in many ways I regard that as a perfectly respectable argument.’
But he said jail would remove his ability to pay compensation – ‘a key question in this case’.
He also took into account Robson’s immediate admissions and the family’s support in deciding ‘by an extremely fine balance’ not to imprison Robson.
He passed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years with 80 hours of unpaid work, a three-month curfew between 11pm and 5am and 20 days of rehabilitation activity.
He ordered Robson to pay the remaining £28,000 in compensation.
‘It is a moral obligation on your part to work hard and pay this money back to this family who, some would say surprisingly, are standing by you.’
The judge added that the case showed the ‘pernicious effect’ of online gambling.