'Despicable' son stole £10,000 from his mother

A "despicablee and mean" son found guilty of stealing from his mother has been spared jail and will not have to pay back the thousands of pounds he stole from her.

According to her bank statements, pensioner Penelope Salter was living it up with satellite TV, new clothes and holidays.

But when she received a letter from the bank saying she was overdrawn, she checked her outgoing payments and confirmed none of the money had been spent by her.

She said when she tackled her son Matthew, however, he told her: "I did it for your grandchildren."

Matthew Salter, 35, of Longridge Way, Weston-super-Mare, denied 17 charges of theft, alleging he stole £13,500 from his mother between 2005 and 2007.

A jury of eight men and four women convicted him of eight of the charges – which added up to a total of £10,198 stolen – and acquitted him of the rest.

Sentencing him yesterday at Bristol Crown Court, the Recorder of Bristol Judge Neil Ford QC said: "You stole from your mother something in the region of £10,000 and that was a despicable and mean thing to do.

"It's absolutely clear from your pre-sentence report you still do not accept responsibility for your dishonesty that your mother authorised these payments."

Salter got an 18-month community order, with 150 hours' unpaid work. No compensation order was made.

At his trial, prosecutor Ruth Armstrong told the court the fraud involved more than 100 payments from Mrs Salter's bank account, made either by computer or by telephone.

Mrs Salter, 64, told Bristol Crown Court she had a half share of a bed and breakfast business until it was ended in 2007.

She told the jury when her bank contacted her, she went through her statements and discovered outgoing payments for Sky TV, car insurance, telephone bills, bailiffs, car hire, hotel stays in Wales and Minehead, and even a county 20-20 cricket match were not authorised by her. Mrs Salter conceded she gave her son Matthew her account details on two occasions.

She said the first was to enable him just to set up Sky TV when he moved house and the second was when she asked him to hire a car for her.

Mrs Salter said when she tackled her son about the continuing Sky subscriptions from her account, he said he was "sorting it".

She told the court: "I went to my bank and said I thought there was a fraud on my bank account. I spoke to Matthew and asked him what was going on. I said: 'I've got it in my bank statements' and he said: 'I did it for your grandchildren'."

Salter claimed his mother agreed to pay for the items.

Mitigating, Anna Vigars said Salter was needed more than ever at home, as his wife has recently given birth.

She said the baker by trade had been making "active steps" to get a job.