Cruel carer blows pensioner’s £10k on gambling, KFC and shopping sprees

05 September 2025 , 09:04

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Cruel carer blows pensioner’s £10k on gambling, KFC and shopping sprees

A heartless carer swindled nearly £10,000 from the wife of a man she was supposed to be caring for.

Danielle Houghton, 32, stole a bank card from the 91-year-old wife of an elderly man she was meant to be caring for, and spent almost £10,000 in less than three months.

She withdrew £7,700 of this money from cash machines to spend and blew the other £2,073.14 on trips to tanning shops, gambling sites, Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions, Sports Direct, KFC, petrol, and general shopping including cigarettes and alcohol, to name but a few.

She also tried to take a further £800 but was unsuccessful, Preston Crown Court heard. On Friday, 22nd August Houghton, of Buttermere Road, Lancaster, was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison after pleading guilty to theft and fraud by false representation.

Houghton’s victim was 91 and suffered from dementia, and her husband, the man she was supposed to be caring for, was 92 years old and bed-bound.

Houghton stole the lady’s bank card and started her spending spree at the end of November 2023, not stopping until the lady’s children noticed the transactions and the police began to investigate her crimes.

Very sadly, during the course of the investigation, both the victim and her husband passed away.

The victim’s son explained the impact of Houghton’s selfish actions on his Mum and family in the Victim Impact Statement he read at the sentencing: “Something bad has been done to me, but I cannot remember what it is…” That heartbreaking phrase was my frail, vulnerable, and deeply upset Mum’s constant refrain.

James Smith