A young woman who stole more than £11,000 from her girlfriend's vulnerable dad today walked free from court.
Widowed pensioner Anthony Searle welcomed his daughter Corrin Searle's partner Ashlea James into his family.
The 67-year-old victim said he treated James, 28, like his own daughter and they even went on holidays together.
But she repaid him by draining his bank accounts and repeatedly lied to his face when confronted over the fraud .
Liverpool Crown Court heard Miss Searle and James lived together and had a spare key to Mr Searle's house.
In June 2019, Mr Searle received a letter from Santander bank saying he owed around £8,700 on a credit card.
James happened to be at home with him and asked what was wrong because the OAP was in "complete shock".
She told him she would ring the bank and explained it was a "mix-up" and he had been sent someone else's bill.
Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said James, of Ferguson Avenue, Ellesmere Port , then reassured Mr Searle and left.
But when he went to the bank to transfer some money into James' account, which he had agreed to do, the truth emerged.
He was told his account was blocked and a woman called Ashlea James had tried to transfer £10,000 via online banking on May 17.
Mr Searle requested copies of his statements for the last three months from his bank accounts with Santander, Lloyds and Tesco.
He realised a large number of transactions had been made without his knowledge and contacted James to meet at his house.
Mr Blasbery said the pensioner asked if she knew anything about someone taking money from his accounts.
He said: "Her reply was 'I haven't done anything wrong - I would never do anything like that to you Tony."
She appeared very nervous, was waving her arms around and shouting "I've done nothing wrong".
He told her about the £10,000 and said "stop lying, I know it's you", at which point she cried and said "I'm sorry, yes it was me."
James claimed she had taken the money to pay for her grandad's funeral, because nobody else in her family could pay.
Mr Blasbery said: "Mr Searle said 'why didn't you just ask me? You know I would have helped you'."
James said she didn't want to ask as she already owed him £2,800 and begged him not to tell Miss Searle or the police.
She claimed she was inheriting £33,500 from her grandad and repeatedly promised to pay the money back, but later cut off all contact.
When arrested and interviewed in August, she denied any wrongdoing, but then admitted using all three accounts without permission.
Mr Searle told the court he was now far less trusting of people, suspicious and wary, and more security conscious.
He said: "What Ashlea has done to me has actually destroyed my faith in human nature, given that I treated her as good as my own daughter.
"I have been on holidays with her and my daughter in the past and all along Ashlea has been stealing from me, but still had the gall to sit in front of me and act as if nothing was going on."
The victim said he was lucky the majority of the money had been refunded by the banks.
But he was left traumatised and his existing medication for high blood pressure had to be increased.
James, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to fraud on the basis she took £11,526, over a four-month period.
Jo Maxwell, defending, said her client was hugely remorseful and "a broken woman", who was embarrassed and ashamed.
She said James was responsible for finances in her relationship with Miss Searle and her father-in-law had given her access to his bank cards.
Ms Maxwell said James had the support of her employers, Home Bargains, and a reference from the store where she worked in Wirral .
She said a pre-sentence report found James was a low risk of reoffending and urged Judge Denis Watson, QC, to spare her prison.
The judge said it was a "mean" offence, especially as James had been treated as part of the vulnerable victim's family.
He said she repaid Mr Searle's trust by stealing from him but accepted her remorse was genuine and there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.
Judge Watson handed James 14 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, plus 180 hours of unpaid work.
He told her to attend a 10-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and made a five-year restraining order to protect Mr Searle.
