A remorseless woman robbed her granddad of his entire life savings after inventing a false legal battle with B&Q and charging him £75k for her supposed solicitor fees. Olivia Crutchley cruelly conned the OAP she previously described as her 'best friend' into giving her thousands of pounds for over 18 months to fund her drug addiction.
She bombarded Roy Crutchley, 79, with a series of fake emails from alleged lawyers and the Citizens Advice Bureau as she told him she was attempting to sue her former employer, despite having never actually worked for the DIY giant, the ECHO reports. The 23-year-old is the eldest granddaughter of Mr Crutchley and is said to have had a 'strong' relationship with the pensioner after she spent periods living with him growing up, Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday.
Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, told how their relationship did break down at one point after Crutchley was accused of stealing £10 from his wife's purse and she went back to stay with her mum. However, their issues 'resolved' and he even became a guarantor on her flat when she moved to Liverpool meaning he would pay for her rent if she didn't.
The defendant then moved away to Malta before coming home to Warrington. However, it was at this point that Crutchley spun a web of lies and told her grandad she had started working for B&Q and was promoted to the position of assistant manager.
She claimed that she had been left out of pocket due to extra training as a part of her new role which was not paid for by the company. She alleged that included travel and accommodation expenses for sessions in Southport, London and Birmingham. She forwarded Mr Crutchley fake emails from her supposed supervisor in relation to these costs and those of purchasing her uniform.
Between December 2020 and June 2022, the defendant sent him around 140 emails with others coming from the likes of made up solicitors and citizens advice staff. The OAP initially agreed to shell out £1,000 to cover these expenses to help out his grandchild.
Crutchley, of Windermere Avenue in Orford, later told him that she had stopped working for B&Q and had been in contact with the Citizens Advice Bureau over potential court proceedings. In September 2021, she sent her grandfather a screenshot of an email from an alleged employee of the organisation which stated she would need to make payments in order to start this process.
The fictional emails with demands for money continued regularly with other contact supposedly coming from lawyers requesting fees. Excuses for the costs included a solicitor that had a 'family emergency' which meant she needed to pay for a new legal team.
One fake legal professional even began emailing Mr Crutchley directly but he became suspicious after one 'unprofessional' message sent by an alleged lawyer he had never met told him his daughter had died of cancer. The victim also noticed the email address was from an AOL account rather than having a professional company address which he found 'strange'.
The false solicitor also made no reference to being a part of any specific law firm. Over the course of the fraud, Mr Crutchley sent his £68,911.56 to his granddaughter and a further £6,057.30 to her partner, resulting in an overall loss of £74,968.86
The pensioner spent his entire life savings and all of his credit cards were taken to the 'limit'. In addition to this, he took out two bank loans, borrowed money from family and friends and had to sell his car and personal possessions.
In a statement read out to the court on his behalf, he said: "I did this to help my eldest granddaughter. She has been through so much in her life, I just wanted something to go well for her.
"I thought I was helping her. I just wanted the best for her."
Mr Crutchley said he had been 'happily married' for 51 years but their money issues had caused problems between him and his wife. He was worried that he would have to sell his house and the couple would end up homeless.
He added: "We have worked so hard our whole lives, this is the time to enjoy ourselves. I am so ashamed that we have had to ask friends to borrow money.
"My wife can't even afford a new pair of glasses she needs. How do I get out of this situation? I have no idea why Olivia has done this to me after all the help I have given her over the years.
"This has turned my life upside down. I have no money to pay for mine or my wife's funerals, should the worst happen to us."
Crutchley's supposed employment with B&Q and all of the emails involving the fictional lawsuit were a 'complete and utter fabrication'. She was arrested in October last year and 'fully admitted the offence'.
Rosemary Proctor, defending, told the court: "Ms Crutchley has destroyed her relationship with the man she describes as her best friend growing up. She will have to live with that.
"She was addicted to opiates. She was desperate at the time of the offence.
"She wasn't thinking about the consequences of her actions, only her addiction. Her addiction was her world at that time.
"As her addiction spiralled, so did her deception. In her own words: 'I can't believe how selfish I was, I was in a place where I would have done anything to get my hands on them - I sold my TV, I sold everything in my flat."
Ms Proctor explained the defendant's 'deeply remorseful' addiction began when taking tramadol after an accident in the workplace. She added: "She understands her addiction is not an excuse, but it is a reason.
"There is no suggestion that she would have committed this offence had it not been for her addiction. She has sought out help for her addiction. Her arrest was a real wake up call.
"She wants to get to the point where she can work and pay her grandfather back. She has a lot of time to change, and there is every chance this will be the last time she appears before the court."
Crutchley, who has no previous convictions was jailed for two years after admitting to fraud during an earlier hearing. Sentencing, Recorder Graham Wells said: "I have to sentence you for an unpleasant, mean and destructive offence. It is a terrible offence.
"You have destroyed your relationship, but you also destroyed the peace and quietness of his retirement. It was over a period of years, taking him for all he had and then some."
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