A heartless carer who stole over £9,000 from his girlfriend’s grandparents after they entrusted him with their bank card to do their shopping has been given a 10-month jail sentence.
The elderly couple, who were in their 80s, trustingly gave David Lewis their current account bank card so that he could do their shopping during the covid lockdown.
Lewis always returned the card to the couple following the shopping trips and they had no concerns about its use, however he pocketed more than £9,000, which he spent on clothes and presents.
Swansea Crown Court heard that in January of this year, the couple received a statement for their TSB savings account telling them that instead of containing the expected £14,000, it had a little over £5,000.
It transpired that between November 1, 2021 and January 4, 2022, Lewis had made 35 separate withdrawals from cash machines in Pontardawe for amounts ranging from £140 to £400.
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When questioned by family members Lewis, 37, confessed to what he had been doing and in a subsequent police interview admitted that he would have continued withdrawing money from the couple’s savings account if he had not been caught.
In an impact statement that was read to the court, the victims said they were left feeling heartbroken, betrayed and preyed upon by the actions of someone they trusted. They said they would have given the defendant money if he had asked.
His barrister, Mr Iwan Jenkins, said his client bitterly regretted what he had done and had ‘lost everything’.
He added that if he avoided a prison sentence, the father-of-one had been offered employment with the Happy Hounds pet food company in Ammanford.
But Judge Jeremy Jenkins told Lewis he had targeted two elderly and vulnerable people and was guilty of a gross abuse of trust.
The only appropriate sentence, said the Judge, was immediate custody.
After pleading guilty to a charge of fraud by false representation Lewis, of Leonardo's guesthouse, Oystermouth Road, Swansea was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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