A “totally dishonest” mother who stole her daughters’ inheritance has been jailed.
Katherine Hill, 53, worked with her 93-year-old father Gerald Hill to steal money left by their grandmother from her children, a court heard.
Gemma and Jessica Thomas received £50,000 in their grandmother’s will.
It stated that they could access the money once they turned 25, but Katherine and Gerald Hill emptied the account in just over a year.
At Swansea Crown Court on Friday, Mrs Hill, from Pontardawe, near Swansea, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Hill, from Gower, was given a suspended sentence. If he were arrested, the judge feared that he would cause “chaos” in the prison system due to his advanced age.
‘Ranco and dishonest’
Recorder Greg Bull KC said Hill instigated the hit and used his father as a “scapegoat”.
“I am convinced that you were so angry that your daughters received more money than you that you decided, in a spiteful and dishonest manner, to obtain their inheritance,” he said.
“You did it in part out of greed – not just out of greed, but also out of spite, the spite being that your daughters chose to live with their father instead of you. You used that money as a weapon against your own children.”
Mitigating the issue, attorney Matt Murphy, who spoke on Hill’s behalf, said she was “considered trustworthy by her colleagues.”
He said the offense was a “unique, once-in-a-lifetime scenario”.
‘Effectively under house arrest’
Speaking on Hill’s behalf, Harry Dickens asked that his client not be jailed due to his age.
Dickens said his client was effectively under “house arrest” as no family or friends had wanted to speak to him since the crime.
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In a victim impact statement read on her behalf, Jessica Thomas said the incident was “seriously damaging to [her] mental health”.
“I find it difficult to understand how my family could have caused so much pain and suffering to their own flesh and blood,” she added.
Prosecutor James Hartson also read a statement on behalf of Gemma Thomas, who said she and her sister were “exploited for money”.
“I was let down and deceived by two people who are my blood and my family,” she added.
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