Elizabeth Frances Bond, 50, appeared at Bradford Crown Court for sentencing on March 7 after admitting fraud by abuse of position in relation to her mother Sylvia Bond, who died last year.

The mother and daughter lived together in Skipton and after Mrs Bond was diagnosed with dementia aged 69 in 2012, Miss Bond and her partner became her carers.

Miss Bond, who herself worked full-time as a professional carer, was granted power of attorney over her mother’s affairs in 2014, and a year later following an assessment, social services agreed that the older woman was not capable of making her own decisions. She moved to a care home and her property on Hebden Terrace in Skipton was sold, with the £183,000 proceeds going into a bank account that her daughter had control of to pay the care fees.

However, the deception then began as Miss Bond and her partner, an Army veteran, found themselves ‘effectively homeless’ due to the law requiring the sale of the house. They used around £20,000 of Mrs Bond’s money to rent a property on Hardy Meadows in Grassington.

In 2017, Miss Bond’s partner informed social services that Sylvia Bond had no savings left and requested assistance with the fees. Though the council covered the sum, they became concerned and reported the family to the Office of the Public Guardian, who began an investigation.

Miss Bond did not respond to requests to provide information, and her power of attorney was revoked and passed to a firm of solicitors who informed North Yorkshire Police that they suspected fraud.

The police discovered that payments had been made towards Elizabeth Bond’s ‘own lifestyle’ from her mother’s account, and that money had been spent on utility bills, a £7,000 car, credit cards, furniture and Playstation gaming.

Bond was first interviewed in late 2019 and denied wrongdoing, and was not charged until May 2023.

Her defence counsel said she was a ‘dedicated and kind’ carer who had continued to work during the court case and cared for a woman in her 80s on a one-to-one basis.

She said the mother and daughter had a ‘very close relationship’ as the defendant’s four brothers were estranged from the family. She added that it had ‘come as a shock’ to Elizabeth Bond when she realised how much money she had taken.

She added: “She relishes caring for others and she has lost everything. She was naive and has a poor grasp of what she has done.”

Sentencing Bond to 28 months in prison, Recorder Paul Reid said he considered the ‘public purse’ to be the victim of the fraud rather than Sylvia, who knew nothing about her daughter’s deception, because social services had had to pay her care bill until her death.

"You were funding your own lifestyle and luxury items. The first diversion from paying the fees was on your rent, and you should have known that was not right. This is a direct fraud of public finances. Your mother was cared for with public funds.”

'Devoted and kind' Yorkshire carer jailed for defrauding her own mother out of £76,000 and spending it on 'luxury items'