An elderly couple have been left heartbroken after learning that the niece they had ‘raised like a daughter’ betrayed them by siphoning off £150,000 from their life savings.
Frank and Mary Hillier, 88 and 90, were betrayed by Lucy Paginton who they brought up from the age of two.
Paginton, 28, secretly splashed their money out on luxury foreign holidays, five star hotels and designer clothes.
This lavish spending included visits to the five-star Celtic Manor resort in Newport and trips to high street designer shop Flannels.
However, even after having their lives ruined by this callous deception, the elderly couple maintain that they still love their niece.
Speaking before Newport Crown Court, Prosecutor Thomas Stanway said: ‘They spoiled her while she was growing up, lavishing her with gifts, leasing cars for her and taking her on holiday.
‘She was treated like their own granddaughter.’
The Court heard Paginton’s scam started when she asked them to help her buy a house when she was aged 20.
Lucy Paginton siphoned £150,000 from Jack and Mary Hillier’s live savings
Mr Stanway said: ‘A plan was agreed that they would pay the deposits for two properties.
‘Paginton would live in one house and her aunt and uncle in the other.
‘The property the Hilliers lived in would then pass over to her after they had died.’
But instead of following through on the plan, Paginton pocketed the deposit money and forged Halifax bank documents, along with faking correspondence from Redrow housebuilders and a conveyancing firm.
Mr Stanway said: ‘When one considers Miss Paginton’s bank statements one can see that in effect the payments were simply made to fund her lifestyle.
‘There were visits to the Celtic Manor Resort, payments to Flannels, a high-end designer clothing shop.
‘There were also payments to various travel companies noted within her bank statements.’
In a victim impact statement Mrs Hillier said she had been left with a feeling of being betrayed by a loved one.
‘Every night going to bed I find it difficult to sleep and we’re constantly worried about the case, the stress of it all has made us unwell.
‘It hurts because she lied to us and we showed her so much love, gave her holidays, money and she never went without.
‘We were willing to buy her a house but she decided to steal from us instead. It’s affected my mental health and my husband’s physical and mental health’, Mrs Hillier said.
Paginton’s lavish spending included trips to the five-star Celtic Manor Resort
A one-night stay at Celtic Manor Resort can cost thousands of pounds
Mrs Hillier went on to add that the couple have been left ‘unable to move on’ as a result of their niece’s fraud.
‘We have lost everything we have worked hard for and family have distanced themselves from us.
‘We couldn’t let her get away with this and can’t believe she did this. We still love the defendant but she hurt us and broke our trust.
‘We hope to get justice from this case and make Lucy realise the consequences of her actions’, Mrs Hillier concluded.
Mother-of-one Paginton, of Newport, was jailed for four years and two months after admitting fraud between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2021.
Judge Carl Harrison told her: ‘Your victims thought highly of you, they trusted you and they loved you.
‘It was that love and trust that led them to falling victim to your repeated dishonest behaviour.
‘For four years you cynically and repeatedly abused the trust that Frank and Mary Hillier placed in you to enrich yourself and defraud them.
‘They described it as being a living hell.They are an elderly couple who should be looking forward to their future. Their lives have been ruined by your selfish actions.’
Paginton will face a proceeds of crime hearing later this year.
