Forklift truck driver is spared jail after stealing £30,000 by sneaking into his ex-wife's house every week for three years

A man who stole £30,000 by sneaking into his ex-wife’s house every week for three years has been escaped jail.

Bernard Young, 47, crept into the home of former wife, Lynn, in the middle of the night to steal a debit card for her brother’s bank account.
Then he would break back into the house to replace it hours later, Liverpool crown court heard today.

Young, who had a key to the former matrimonial home, would withdraw about £180 a time from the account of Terence Ruck, 68, before returning the card to his ex-wife’s handbag.

Mrs Young, 46, who separated from the defendant in 2009 after being married for 19 years, only realised the theft when she was shopping with her brother and the card was declined due to insufficient funds.

Bernard Young, pictured left, was spared jail for sneaking into the house of his ex-wife Lynn Young, pictured right, taking her brother's bank card and stealing £30,000 from his account

Mr Ruck’s entire life savings - totalling £30,280 - had been taken.

The court heard that Mrs Young, from Golborne, near Wigan in Greater Manchester, experienced 'strange things happening' after her separation from Young.

Prosecutor Sarah Holt said: 'She would wake in the night and feel very uncomfortable as though someone was in the house.

'But she told herself she was being silly and put it down to being on her own after being in a relationship for a long time.'

She told the court that Young had been taking the card and making the secret withdrawals every week for between £150 and £180 over a five-year period and had been sneaking back into his old home since their separation.

Mrs Young even told her ex-husband that she sometimes felt that there was someone in the bedroom at night, but he had told her that there was 'nothing to worry about'.

Young had started the scam in 2007 when the couple were still married but continued with the fraud after the 19 year marriage collapsed in 2009.

Lynn Young, pictured centre with family members supporting her, told the police she was 'devastated that the man to whom she had been married for 19 years could be responsible for the fraud'

Young must now pay back the £30,000 he stole from Terence Ruck

A police investigation found CCTV recordings of Young making withdrawals in the early hours of the morning and statements showed he had withdrawn £30,280 from 2007 to 2012.

Miss Holt told the court that the couple had been on friendly terms since their separation and Young had often stayed overnight in the house.

She said: 'He was aware she kept her handbag in the bedroom while she was asleep.
'He went into the bedroom, went to her handbag and took the card.

'He made the withdrawals and then went back to the house to place the card back in the bag which was undisturbed.
'This was how he was able to take so much money over such a lengthy period of time.'

Mrs Young later told police that she was 'devastated that the man to whom she had been married for 19 years could be responsible for the fraud'.

Philip Martin, defending, said that Young was the 'sole bread winner' for the family and was taking the money to pay household bills.
Mr Martin told the court: 'He was, in a way, trying to woo her but since she discovered what was happening, this has back fired spectacularly.
'There was no suggestion he was using the money for a lavish lifestyle.'

Young, a forklift truck driver, who lives on a barge in Crooke Marina, Wigan, was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, after earlier pleading guilty to six counts of fraud by false representation.

Mr Martin said that Young, who now has three young children through another relationship, was in a position to pay the money back through the sale of his house boat and other assets.

Recorder Nicholas Fewtrell told him that his promise to repay the cash had spared him from going to prison immediately.

He said: 'You have led an honest and hard working life so far and it is a great tragedy you find yourself in this position.

'This was despicable conduct but as you are in a position to make reparation I am going to take a more lenient course than I would have otherwise.'

Young was also ordered to do 200 hours unpaid community work.

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