An estate agent with stomach cancer faces a prison sentence after pleading guilty of defrauding an 80 year old pensioner out of £160,000.
Elizabeth Smith, 52, from Winchelsea Beach in East Sussex, could face up to six years in prison for the offence, which she admitted this week at Lewes Crown Court.
Local media report that between May 2018 and March 2019 she defrauded the pensioner by claiming the money would go towards a property purchase - instead, Smith kept the money for her own use.
The prosecution told the court that Smith’s offending was aggravated by the victim’s age; meanwhile the defence argued that Smith – who had been due to stand trial – suffered from stomach cancer, anxiety and depressed, and should be released on bail ahead of her sentencing on September 21.
But the Recorder remanded Smith in custody and ordered a pre-sentence report.
You can see a local report of the Crown Court case here.
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OK - So she gets a gaol sentence and rightly so. And for sure the sentence will not be long enough.
But what happenned to the £160,000?
The pensioner is the one who has lost everything with no fault.
Surley, this horrible woman who defrauded the pensioner should be ordered to pay back EVERY single penny? And quickly too.
Ill or not it does not matter.
Or am I wrong?
The age old saying if you can't do the time don't do the crime why should this woman be treated any differently to anyone else, regardless of whether she is sick or not, she knowingly stole money and defrauded a vulnerable person so should be disciplined accordingly and made to pay back every penny
Lock her up, throw away the key- seize and sell her assets to return the £160k plus damages. Doesnt matter what you're going through in life it never justifies anything
#Tracy
But that will not happen.......
A totally unthinking judiciary.
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