A MAN who swindled his 96-year-old mother out of more than £23,000 will have to sell his house to pay the money back, Bradford Crown Court heard. 

Ian Young had financial problems and issues with alcohol when he syphoned funds from her account into his between January 2021 and August last year.  

Young, 65, of Canal Road, Riddlesden, near Keighley, pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by misrepresentation at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court and was sent to the crown court for sentence. 

The amount taken added up to £23,735, prosecutor Ian Howard said. 

Recorder Anthony Hawks labelled the offending ‘very mean and unpleasant’ but spared Young an immediate jail sentence because of his previous ‘blameless life’ and need to reimburse his mother in full. 

Mr Howard said sums of more than £12,000 and £11,000 were taken out of his mother’s account by Young who deposited the money by cheque into his own account. 

In August last year, a relative became suspicious of what was going on and the police were alerted. An investigation uncovered ‘transactions of concern.’ 

Young’s finances were looked into and it became clear that the money was going into his account, the court was told. He had access to his mother’s finances and cheque book. 

He was interviewed by the police in October and made no comment. But in January he fully admitted what he had done, saying he had financial problems and issues with alcohol.  

In mitigation, it was stated that he was very remorseful and determined to pay back the money. 

Recorder Hawks said it was ‘a very sad state of affairs.’  

Young had brought disgrace on himself and would have to pay the money back. 

He had swindled his mother out of nearly £24,000. Lots of people had drink problems, it was no excuse for resorting to fraud. 

“It’s a very mean and unpleasant thing to do. You took this money and you’re going to have to sell your house to pay it back,” the recorder stated. 

Young had hitherto led a blameless life and if he went to jail, he would not be able to organise the compensation payment so easily. 

He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two, years with 25 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service. 

Young has six months to pay back the money or risk a 12-month prison sentence in default.