A ‘mean-spirited’ son who stole £10,000 from his dying mother has been spared jail after pleading guilty – and will now inherit the £500,000 home she left for him in her will.
Sylvia Frances Turner was severely ill when Sylvia Windsor (37) trusted James Windsor with her bankcard and defrauded him of her savings.
Her deathbed was her final resting place, and she gave statements to the police. She died in June of last year at age 76.
Windsor was not sentenced to prison, despite having been told by a judge it was one of the most serious cases he had seen.
He entered a guilty plea on the first day of his trial at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday and escaped with a seven-month suspended jail sentence.
The judge also fumed when he became aware Windsor now stands to inherit his mother’s £500,000 home in Sheffield within the next 12 months.
Judge Jeremy Richardson stated to the court that Richardson was a mean-spirited person. This case is among the most egregious I have seen in a while. This is a mother being fraudulently deceived by her son.
Sheffield Crown Court (pictured), where James Windsor avoided an immediate prison sentence after stealing £10,000 from his dying mother
“Your mother has died. You have everything she has left. How did you manage to steal everything from her? You stole just under £10,000 from her, your mother.
She was extremely ill and died because of it. She was very fond of you. You earned her trust and she signed up for your bank card.
“You lived with her, and I was told that you were taking your mother’s life.
Windsor caused his mother’significant’ pain in the last months of her life, and the judge described her behavior towards him as ‘quite amazing’.
According to the court, there was no doubt that he would be sentenced immediately with a nine month term if convicted at trial.
Judge Richardson added: ‘The funds you stole could and would have been made available for your mother’s care but instead you went off buying and frittering the money away.
You should go straight to jail now, according to your rights. You are a criminal and it is right that you go to prison.
Windsor, of Sheffield, was also fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £1,350 by December 31, 2022.
The judge was satisfied he has the means to pay the fine after inheriting the £500,000.
He added: ‘I don’t see why you should profit from your economic depravity.’