Woman gambled away £24,600 of partner's cash

A WOMAN with a secret gambling habit cashed in her partner's shares and silver bullion to fund her urges.

- By ESTHER HALLIGAN

Laura Townsend spent £24,646.89 of her partner's cash without his knowledge.

The victim allowed her access to his bank account so she could pay the household bills but when Townsend's fraud was uncovered, he found out that the bills had not been paid and he was behind on his mortgage.

The victim, who is severely dyslexic and works as a contract manager in the construction sector, became suspicious when he asked Townsend, 40, to get £1,000 out of his account in September 2023.

He had asked her to withdraw the cash to pay for work done on their home but Townsend said there was "an administrative error."

She gave him a bank statement showing the balance of his account was £23,500. But the victim went into the bank, and was told that the statement was forged and he had no money left.

He found hundreds of payments to gambling companies had left his account. On Tuesday, Townsend stood in the dock, as prosecutor James Bourne-Arton told Teesside Crown Court that the man's "world collapsed around him.