A Newcastle man has stolen £1,500 (1908 USD) from his grandmother’s funeral savings to finance gambling. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
A Newcastle man has stolen his 86-year-old grandmother’s funeral savings to fund his gambling addiction.
Matthew Temple took her bank card and withdrew a total of £1,500 (1908 USD) to bet on. Newcastle Crown Court recently heard that the grandmother felt betrayed by these actions. He was given a suspended six-month prison sentence and a restraining order.
The man’s cousin exposed the theft in October 2021 and confronted Temple, who became defensive and suggested that someone could have cloned the card details.
Temple admitted taking the money after his family threatened to go to the police
After further investigation, it turned out that the card was non-recordable and the woman could not make withdrawals. Temple admitted taking the money after his family threatened to go to the police. The 34-year-old claimed that he will receive an inheritance of £1,000 ($1,272), so he will only have to pay back £500 ($636).
Eventually the matter went to court, with his grandmother describing her struggles: “It made me feel very weak and very sad, emotionally and I started taking antidepressants.” She confirmed that she allocated that money to provide for the cost of her funeral.
