Cheshire family who stole from relative with learning difficulties are sentenced

A Cheshire family who defrauded a relative with learning difficulties for nearly £150,000 so they could go on luxury holidays have been sentenced to eleven years in prison.

Janet Billington, Keith Billington, Scott Billington and his partner Vicky Bailey all appeared at Chester Crown Court where they were sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison.

The group conducted three hundred and sixty fraudulent transactions, defrauding the Tarporley victim out of more than £145,000.

Janet, Scott and Keith first offered to help the victim with his finances in September 2016 after his father's passing and his mother's poor mental health.

The trio made him sign a Lasting Power of Attorney Order which gave them control of all his money.

Within months of signing the order, a number fraudulent transactions began to take place and large amounts of cash were removed from the victim’s accounts.

The offences escalated in May 2017 when Scott and Vicky moved in with the victim after his mum was taken into care.

By November 2018, all of the victim’s cash had been removed from his accounts.

The scale of the fraud was realised in July 2019 when Social Services and another family member took over the care of the victim and realised that all his money was missing.

The incident was reported to Cheshire Constabulary who launched an investigation.

Scott Billington, from Weaverham, took over £113,000 from the victims accounts. His parents, Janet and Keith also defrauded the victim out of more than £22,000.

Scott’s partner, Vicky, received at least £10,000 which had been taken from the victim.

Following the sentencing Detective Constable Neil Whamby said: “Scott, Janet, Keith and Vicky we’re well aware that the victim was vulnerable, but rather than provide him with the help and support he needed, they chose to exploit him in order to fund their lavish lifestyles.

“Between them they stole more than £145,000 from the victim, much of which was spent on extravagant holidays, weekends away, festivals and nights out.

“Scott also gave a considerable amount of the money to his friends – including at least £10,000 which was given to Vicky, who was well aware of where the cash had come from.

“The actions taken by all four defendants was absolutely sickening, and the fact that they made the victim’s family endure a trial only exacerbated what they had done."