A mum-of-two stole a staggering £65,000 from her own mother – and claimed she was doing it to keep her children happy.
Appearing at Warwick Crown Court, 33-year-old Lisa Innamorati pleaded guilty to stealing the cash from Lynne Doogan's savings account between May 2011 and April this year.
Her solicitor, Simon Hunka, said that Innamorati had started stealing the money when her business with her then-husband failed.
"She knew she was doing wrong, but what she says is that she just wanted to make her children happy," he told the court.
Innamorati's mum had given her access to her money after she retired in 2010. She put the proceeds from selling a property into the Lloyds TSB account and authorised her daughter to deal with internet transfers from the savings account into her ordinary bank account.
Prosecutor Nigel Stelling told the court that Mrs Doogan had £117,500 in the account in May 2011, but by April this year there was just £5,600 left.
"Obviously, monies had been withdrawn and applied for her proper use, but some £65,800 had been misappropriated by this defendant," he said, revealing that Innamorati had made 64 transactions into her own account over a period of 23 months.
Innamorati, who has no previous convictions, admitted what she had done when arrested and questioned.
The Birmingham Mail reports that she was given a suspended two year prison sentence and instructed to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge.