A legal secretary who plundered the bank accounts of her firm’s mentally-incapacitated clients to fund her online shopping sprees has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
A judge said Dianne Spragg, who is married with children, used the £79,000 she stole to ensure she never went without anything she fancied buying.
Pictures taken inside her home at St Christopher Drive, Caerphilly , were handed to Judge Thomas Crowther QC at the sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Tony Trigg said they showed the property was “nicely furnished” and there were smart clothes and new shoe boxes in the wardrobes.
Money withdrawn
He told the court Spragg, now 48, worked for city centre solicitors Geldards from 2003 until 2015 – when the missing money came to light following her departure.
The firm acts for the Court of Protection, dealing with the affairs of people who lack the ability to look after their own finances, and she was given a role in that work from 2010.
When she left it was noticed that the accounts of three clients had “far less cash in them than they should have had”, the court heard.
The money had been withdrawn in dozens and dozens of cheques Spragg wrote either to herself or directly to catalogue companies and shops to cover online purchases she was regularly making.
One of her victims was a 76-year-old man suffering a mental disorder who had £11,102 taken from him and another was an injured scaffolder aged 52 living in Cardiff .
The younger man lost £37,945 as a result of her frauds.
Spent the money
Mr Trigg said: “He was left unable to manage by himself after suffering a severe head injury in a fall at work.
“A total of 65 cheques were fraudulently written in his case including one to the charity McMillan Cancer Support.
“The defendant had collected money for them but had spent it and then used his account to pay them.”
Spragg’s third victim, a man of 44 from Ammanford, lost £29,963 when she wrote out 75 cheques – allegedly on his behalf.
Each time she forged the counter-signature which was necessary for the transaction.
When arrested she was described as being “frank” with police and said she was surprised her dishonesty had added up to a total of more than £79,012.
She said she earned an annual salary of £20,200 but developed a habit of shopping online for more than she could afford.
'Breach of trust'
Adam Sharp, defending, said Spragg had a stable 30-year relationship with her husband and had brought up two sons.
But she had had to watch the rapid decline and the death of her mother to dementia and her online shopping was a “habit which became a compulsion”.
“She was a legal secretary for over 20 years and feels an overwhelming sense of shame,” said Mr Sharp.
Jailing her, Judge Crowther said: “This was a gross breach of trust.
“You depleted the accounts of people who, through age, accident or injury, were unable to administer their own affairs.
“They were people who deserved sympathy but you gave them none.
“You saw them as an opportunity.
“This money was not being used to feed hungry children but to see you never had to deny yourself anything you wanted.”
He said it was to be hoped that the victims, who have been reimbursed by her former employers, were not aware of what happened and had not been caused distress.
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing against Spragg, who pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and one of possessing criminal property, will be held later this year.
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/legal-secretary-stole-79000-firms-10798919
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