Bury man who stole from dementia-sufferer mother must pay back £19k

A man who took thousands of pounds from his 85-year-old mother has been ordered to pay her back or face longer in jail.

Ian Young, 54, of West Road, Bury St Edmunds, used the money to pay for telephone sex chat lines, clothing and socialising.

When Young appeared at Ipswich Crown Court in July, the prosecution said he had withdrawn £15,100 from his mother’s bank accounts.

But when he returned for a proceeds of crime hearing today, the court heard that specialist financial investigators had established Young’s benefit from his offending amounted to £19,033.

The court heard his assets, which included property, were greater than the amount he took.

He had withdrawn money from bank accounts held by his mother who was suffering from dementia and living in a home. She had been assessed as being unable to make decisions about her financial affairs.

In July, Young, who pleaded guilty to two offences of fraud committed between May 2012 and September 2013, was jailed for 16 months at Ipswich Crown Court.

Judge Rupert Overbury ordered Young to hand over £19,033 within the next six months or face an additional 12 months jail if he failed to meet the deadline.

The money will be paid as compensation to Mrs Renee Young, said Judge Overbury.

Young used £4,000 of the money to pay off a bill he had amassed for a telephone sex chat line. The rest of the money went on clothing, visiting pubs and restaurants, racing and golf.

The withdrawals were spotted by social workers who have been helping to manage Mrs Young’s affairs.

When Young, a £25,000 a year civil servant, was arrested he told officers he believed his mother would have been happy for him to have the cash and claimed it had been spent on ‘essentials’.