A young woman suffocated her own grandmother and stole £3,500 to buy Netflix and Uber Eats, culminating a year-long campaign of terror against her own family.
Grace Smith suffocated her 73-year-old grandma, Mary Smith, “into submission” before dragging her around by the hair in a vicious bid to rob money from her.
The 20-year-old spent years stealing and harassing a number of her family members, LancsLive reports .
She had taken thousands of pounds from her nan through credit card fraud and even tried to pawn an onyx ring her own mum had inherited from her late father, but police managed to recover it.
In February 2019 she began stealing from her nan, including using her credit card to place massive £500 food orders.
A year later she went even further, using a different card to spent just under £3,500 on Amazon, Uber Eats and Netflix.
At the end of 2020 a restraining order was made to stop her contacting both her mum and grandmother.
But in last July she began ignoring the order and harassing her grandmother once again.
On three separate occasions that month she asked her grand for money, at one point following her to her home and not relenting until her nan gave her money.
Then, on July 14, she put a note through her grandmother’s door at around 9.30pm asking for money.
Around 20 minutes later she came back and managed to get into the house through a window.
As Ms Smith came out of her bedroom she saw her granddaughter running up the stairs.
Smith then started demanding her card and, when her grandmother refused, she scratched her and pulled her by the hair.
Mr Hopkins said: “She then took a pillow from her grandmother’s bed and put it over her face.”
Her grandmother handed over the card and Smith escaped downstairs and managed to spend £200 before it was possible to cancel it.
Mary Smith made limited statements to the court but Mr Hopkins said it was clear that the effect of the incident and ensuing prosecution on her had been “completely devastating”.
Deborah Smith said her decision to report her daughter to the police had only come when her behaviour had become completely unmanageable for the family.
In a statement read in court today, Ms Smith said: “I know it is my daughter and this was a difficult decision but I can no longer live my life like this.”
Carmel Wilde, defending, said Smith had been in an abusive relationship in the past and spent significant periods in care, leaving her with an undiagnosed psychological condition.
She said: "These points of mitigation are not an excuse for her behaviour but it does go some way to try to explain and put these events in context."
Ms Wilde said Smith "is willing to change" and was making good progress with rehabilitation work in custody.
Jailing the 20-year-old, Judge David Potter said he realised her time in care and being the victim of domestic violence would have had a profound effect on her.
He said: "I fully accept that your short life has itself been full of trauma.
"You spent a significant period of your life in care. Whilst in care you met and started a relationship with another care leaver who, I am satisfied, subjected you to violence and coercive behaviour."
