A man who was caring for his elderly widowed mother conned her out of more than £15,000 to buy himself drugs, clothes, and an oven.
Darren Curtin set up credit cards and online accounts in his vulnerable 79-year-old mother’s name when he could not afford as much cocaine as he wanted with his benefit payments.
Sentencing him at Cardiff Crown Court Judge Daniel Williams described the offending as “a mean breach of trust”.
The court heard the frauds happened in Barry during the three-year period between January 2017 and May 2020.
Emma Harris, prosecuting, said the defendant acted as a carer for his mother Joan Curtin since her husband died 11 years ago.
She talked to her daughter on May 22 when she realised around £4,500 was missing from her account and suspected Darren Curtin may have taken it.
Prosecutors said she confronted her son and he admitted taking the money to buy drugs he was using to self-medicate for back pain. The court heard he also bought clothes and an oven.
Joan Curtin did not initially report the incident to the police as she did not want any action taken against her son and thought he might pay her back.
The court heard she checked bank statements and noticed some unusual transactions to an account she did not recognise.
She spoke to Barclays and they confirmed a credit card had been set up in her name. An Aqua credit card was also taken out using her identity.
Ms Harris said Darren Curtin created online accounts with Jacamo and Argos. The frauds amounted to £15,895.18.
Joan Curtin reported the matter to the police and her son was arrested on May 28. He did not reply to the caution but made full admissions in his police interview.
The defendant told officers he injured his back in 2007 and had a number of operations since then. He was prescribed pain relief including morphine.
Darren Curtin stated he began to self-medicate, as cocaine gave him “instant relief”, and was spending up to £400 a week on the drug. He could not afford it while relying on benefits.
Ms Harris added: “He said he was sorry and he could not believe what he had done to his own mother.”
These offenders were locked up last month:
In a victim personal statement Joan Curtin said: “I am so upset by what happened. Darren used my bank account as if it were his own.
“He was my carer for more than 10 years. I had no reason to believe he was stealing from me. I cannot believe how Darren has abused my trust.”
She added: “I put a roof over his head when he had nowhere else to go. Discovering Darren has been lying to me for years – I am truly broken by this.
“As a mother I cannot believe my own son has done this to me. I still care about Darren and worry about what is going to happen to him but he does have to face the consequences of what he has done.”
She said she found it stressful contacting the bank and has not been sleeping properly since she found out about his offending.
Ms Harris said he had one previous conviction for burglary dating back to 1996. He also received a caution for theft in 1999 after the complainant paid £160 into a Christmas fund and the defendant took the money and disappeared.
Curtin, 54, who does not have a fixed address, admitted four counts of fraud.
Rhodri Chudleigh said his client’s relationship with his partner broke down after he was arrested and he has spent the last six weeks in custody.
Darren Curtin was jailed for 12 months and will spend half of that in prison before he can be released on licence.
