Grandmother who spent £25,000 accidentally transferred into her account jailed

28 June 2023, 15:42

By Alice Dear

The grandma claimed she thought she had won the £25,000 through a competition.

A grandmother from Porthcawl, Wales has been sentenced to six months imprisonment after she spent £25,000 a man accidentally transferred into her account.

Catherine Thomas, 59, was accidentally sent the money from Mark Morgan on 11th May 2021, as he was trying to pay someone for a motorhome.

When discovering the £25K in her bank account, Catherine moved the money into a savings account and refused to repay the funds to Mark.

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On Tuesday, the Cardiff Crown Court heard that Mark had been in the process of buying a motorhome at the time, which he was purchasing for £32,000.

Mark had already given the seller £2,500 as a deposit and a further £5,000 before travelling to Leeds to finish the sale.

However, when it came to transferring the final £25,000, Mark accidentally sent the money to Catherine, who he had previously purchased a caravan off.

The victim contacted his bank as soon as he realised what he had done, however, as the money had been moved out of the account, it was unretrievable.

Mark told the court that the simple mistake caused him to lose his job and his home.

The victim had to take out a loan to repay his employer – who had given him the money to purchase the motorhome – but he was unable to pay off the debt.

Catherine claimed that she thought she had won the money in a competition she had entered.

In his personal victim statement, Mark said: "With one act of deception Catherine Thomas has destroyed my life. £25,000 is a life-changing amount of money but it was not mine – it belonged to my employer. It was transferred to me as an act of trust by my employer...

"From the moment I realised what had happened I felt sick to my stomach and frantically contacted the bank to retrieve the money. Due to the large amount of money I thought Catherine Thomas would obviously think it had been a mistake but when I was told the money was no longer in her account apart from £307 it was devastating.

"I was in shock and filled with emotions, anger, and upset about how someone could do that to another person. I was desperate. I felt responsible to my employers and felt I had let them down after they put a great deal of trust on me."

During sentencing, Recorder Hammond told the defendant: "This is a salutary case that shows how a moment's inattention while using a mobile banking app, the sort of mistake anyone might make, can have devastating and life-changing consequences. I am in no doubt it would have been obvious to you that money was not yours....

"You knew that money was not yours. You displayed wilful blindness to the fact it was not yours and told yourself it was instead competition winnings. That was a lie that you found impossible to resist."

Catherine has been sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 12 months. She was also ordered to pay £1,000 to Mark in compensation.