A woman who defrauded her cousin out of her £47,000 life savings by claiming she was ‘lonely and used it to pay for people to go out with her’ has been sentenced to prison.
Karen Devonport, 58, and victim Susan Marshall grew up together and were ‘like sisters,’ according to Newcastle Crown Court.
Mrs Marshall had no cause to suspect anything nefarious when Devonport requested a loan in April 2019.
Devonport assured her that she would be able to repay the money once her £65,000 divorce settlement was finalized. But she had received it the previous year and had already spent it all.
Devonport of Sunderland borrowed £47,000 in total via 44 different loans.
She pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.
Prosecutor Alec Burns told the court that Devonport first requested a loan in April 2019.
He said, ‘She asked for £8,000 for her daughter’s wedding, but as it happens someone else had already paid for the wedding.
‘The defendant told her she was due a divorce settlement of £65,000 but in the near future and she would pay her back from that but as it turned out, she had already had that money for a year and had already spent it.’
Devonport requested frequent handouts over a 20-month period, according to the court.
They included hundreds of pounds at a time to pay for a log cabin, £3,000 to assist in the establishment of a nail bar, £2,000 for a wedding gown, £700 for bridesmaids’ gowns, £1,000 for a wedding photographer, and funds for solicitor’s bills, insurance fees, and furniture.
Mrs Marshall said in a victim impact statement that the betrayal had left her “devastated,” adding, “Karen has taken all of my life savings. I was left with 21p in my building society account”.
‘Joe and I had been saving since we got married in 1984.’
She said that ‘Karen would tell me she was desperate, she needed the money and promised to pay me back once she received her divorce settlement.
‘I had no reason not to believe Karen or the reasons she needed the money. I believed the money would be returned. I had no reason not to believe or trust her.
‘I didn’t even tell my husband but as time went on I began feeling something wasn’t right.’
Mrs Marshall said that the stress of keeping the loans ‘secret’ had a negative impact on her health, adding, ‘My daughter actually thought I was suffering from dementia.’
‘She is thoroughly ashamed of her own behavior and the devastation she knows she has caused to her cousin,’ said Susan Hirst, defending Devonport.
‘She has betrayed one of the people she has been closest to in her life. Her remorse is deeply felt and genuine.’
The judge told Devonport, ‘It was an extraordinarily mean offence committed against an extremely close member of your family, your cousin. You are close in age, grew up together, you were like sisters.
‘You have stolen all of her and her husband’s life savings by the commission of the offence.
‘You promised her you were still waiting for a divorce settlement, that was a complete lie, you knew full well you had spent that money already.
‘You also knew there was absolutely no prospect of you paying back the sums of money you were obtaining.’
Devonport, according to the court, has begun repaying her relative in £500 monthly payments. She has repaid a total of £3,000 so far.