A FORMER policeman left his mother penniless after spending $15,154 on her credit card gambling. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
A former Australian and British Special Forces soldier left his elderly mother in Eastleigh, UK penniless after he spent a night gambling and drinking on her credit card.
“He accepts that he gambled the money out of boredom and drinking.”
David Apps, 57, left Anne Bates penniless after spending a night on the town to collect nearly £12,000 ($15,154) on her card. Prosecutor Nicola Sully told Southampton Crown Court on Monday that Apps “accepts that he gambled the money out of boredom and drink”.
Apps, who was previously a policeman in Australia, was visiting his mother in July when he bet £11,900 ($15,027) via sports website Spreadex.
According to the Daily echoApps is currently the Director of Special Projects in the UAE Government. Judge Nicholas Rowland questioned Apps’ need to steal from his motherGiven his “income level”.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Bates said her son’s actions had left her “financially vulnerable…unable to cover my bills and led me to put my flat up for sale and move to Australia”.
Ms Bates’ statement continued that she could not believe what Abbs had done to her, and that she wanted him to “hold accountable, but he is my son and I love him”.
Judge Rowland ordered Apps to pay £1,500 ($1,895) a month to his mother, and prove he had repaid the full amount of the money he wasted before July 15. The judge also ordered Apps to “pay a significant additional sum to compensate Anne Bates for psychological trauma and provide evidence of continued counseling.”
