Gambling addict who stole £68,000 from Leeds uncle with dementia spared custody
An addict who siphoned more than £68,000 from his sick uncle’s bank accounts.....
Stephen Lewsley had power of attorney over his relative’s finances, along with his sister, after being diagnosed with advanced dementia.
Lewsley, 56, had made hundreds of withdrawals from the bank accounts over a three-year period to feed his gambling problem.
He was warned by a previous judge at Leeds Crown Court that he faced custody after he admitted a charge of fraud by false representation.
He returned to court today where he was handed a community order.
Lewsley, of Fairfield Road, Bramley, was granted access, along with his sister, to his uncle’s bank account in December 2021.
But in autumn of 2024, the victim’s social worker became concerned about the lack of funds available for the man’s care-home fees, prosecutor Emily Jenkins told the court.
A financial assessment was launched by Leeds City Council and bank statements were obtained, showing suspicious transactions and “excessive spending unrelated to the complainant or his care”.
The police were informed and an investigation found there was 251 withdrawals from two bank accounts. At one point less than £50 was left in each.
A total of £68,130 had been taken.
Lewsley was arrested on April 4 last year and he admitted during his police interview to taking the cash for gambling purposes.
The court heard that he expressed remorse and guilt from the outset.
He has previous convictions, but they date back to 1985 for handling stolen goods and theft.
Mitigating, Marte Alnaes said Lewsley, conceded he faced a prison sentence but suggested it could be suspended for him to receive the help needed for his addiction.
She said he suffered from anxiety and depression stemming from the death of his brother and father, which led to him gambling.
She said: “There is a lot of remorse, shame and guilt.
“He would gamble away all of his wages. He completely lost himself in this. There was no rational thought about the mess he had created.”
Judge Howard Crowson pointed out that his addiction was an aggravating feature, rather than a mitigating point.
However, he opted to give him a two-year community order with 250 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation days with probation.
He said the sentence was onerous and would be “harder than sitting in a cell”, referring to it being an alternative to jail.