Ilfracombe woman stole £40,000 from mum and disabled brother to pay drug debts

A woman stole more than £40,000 from her mum and disabled adopted brother to pay off her drug debts.

Fay Hughes, 26, of Ilfracombe, pleaded guilty to stealing £11,662 belonging to Nathan Hughes and £31,800 from Yvonne and Paul Hughes.

She also admitted possessing 4 grammes of cocaine, a controlled class A drug, and 0.3 grammes of cannabis, a controlled class B drug.

Karen Ball, for the prosecution, told North Devon Magistrates that Hughes' mother went into hospital for an extended period for treatment and it was during that time that the cash was taken from her personal account and from her adopted son's.

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He is 20-years-old and suffers from cerebral palsy and requires 24 hour care. The defendant's mother looked after him and there was a bank account into which money was paid every month for that care.

Hughes was given permission to manage both accounts while her mother was in hospital.

But when her mother returned home she received a statement for her son's account, revealing that a large amount of money had been removed.

Money had also been taken from her own account.

The defendant admitted taking some money and moving money from one account to another so that she would not be found out. As far as the drugs offences were concerned, the cocaine and herbal cannabis were found in her vehicle just after her arrest.

Jen Law, for the defence, pointed out that the sum of £17,000 was transferred from one account to another but that was not reflected in the charges.

She said the reason behind the offences was that her client was suffering from a drug habit. The money was taken to feed her drug habit and to pay off dealers.

In view of the amount of money involved magistrates decided to send the matters to Exeter Crown Court for sentencing. Hughes was remanded on unconditional bail until her hearing on April 11.