A care worker who exploited her mum’s Alzheimer’s to steal her life savings has been ordered to pay back the proceeds from the sale of her second car.
Luana Dougherty, 50, was trusted by her family to take in Margaret Trimmer, who is in her 80s, after she stopped being able to look after herself.
She was given a £125,000 share from the sale of the £375,000 familly home, while the remaining money was held in her mum’s bank account.
But she used her mum’s condition to set up the pensioner’s online banking on her own phone, giving her access to her bank account.
Dougherty, a mother of three, went on to make withdrawals of thousands of pounds at a time, at one point transferring £20,000 in one day.
She was jailed for fraud in September and branded ‘uncaring and callous’ in court for stealing from her mum as though she were ‘taking candy from a baby’.
She previously transferred back £80,000 of her ill-gotten gains but wastaken to court again on Friday to hand back further proceeds.
Her only asset was now a second-hand Vauxhall, which she was ordered to sell for a £4,000 asking price.
The 50-year-old splashed the money on luxuries including a getaway in India with a male companion, new furniture and pampering her Staffies.
She was caught after she bragged to her son she was going to put a £60,000 deposit on a house.
The news prompted relatives to make enquiries with Ms Trimmer’s bank, which investigated further.
Dougherty’s sister Sandra Clayton said Mrs Trimmer, who is in her 80s was said to be “anxious and distressed” when told of her daughter’s betrayal.
In a previous statement to police, she said: ‘When mum sold up because she was unable to look after herself we agreed that Luana would look after her as she had worked in the care sector for people with dementia.
‘She had already received her share of £125,000 whilst the remaining money would be held in mum’s bank account. But Luanna was amassing that money selfishly for herself. We now feel so foolish that we trusted her.
‘In fact she started accessing the money almost immediately. She had told us repeatedly that our mother was attending medical appointments. But in the 18 months she lived with her she received no doctors’ appointments or diagnosis.
‘My mother’s money would have provided the best possible care for her. But the financial impact has meant we had no choice in a type of care home she would move into.
‘We are reliant on the local authority council to choose that place for her and top up £100 a week for mum’s care.
Mrs Clayton added: ‘Luanna has not asked how she is, where she lives, or offered to pay any money. We have not received any money from her. She had showed no care or concern and had used her for what she could get out of her. She had no regard for the consequences, leaving us to pick up the pieces.’
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