Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court in Darlington was the setting for dramatic scenes recently when it was revealed a woman funnelled more than £5000 from her husband’s building business, to fund her online bingo habit. The court heard how Denise Postgate had requested customers pay upfront for work her husband was due to carry out, only she produced her own banking details so she could play more bingo.
When a customer called to ask when the work was going to be carried out, Denise intercepted the phone call to her husband and said that his van had broken. One lie lead to another…
…Denise then said a family member had been arrested and then went even further by saying her husband, Gary, was in hospital with a “serious and potentially life-threatening illness.”
And it Continues:
During the period of October and December 2018, Denise had taken more than £5000 from customers of her builder husband. One victim paid £1500 for work to be done and grew concerned on hearing Gary was in hospital in a bad way, so she called Denise and was told a new builder would be arranged in his place. When the victim requested building materials to be sent to the new builder, Denise again became evasive…
…which resulted in the woman’s husband visiting the builder’s home for the materials which were supposedly bought for their job, only he didn’t find any materials, instead he found Gary at home and well!
Lee Poppett prosecuting said: “It’s fair to say that he was truly shocked because he had never been paid – unfortunately the money had been paid to Mrs Postgate.”
The couple were financially stable, and that Mrs Postgate had her own money and as a result of her actions, her daughters are no longer speaking to her.
Why Did She Do It?
In 2015, Denise’s mother passed away and this resulted in her gambling to escape her grief. She turned to online bingo as a way of being able to leave behind her worries and at first, she played with small stakes by making a deposit of £20 to £40 a time, but her gambling habit became more frequent which resulted in her playing numerous times a day and losing huge amounts of cash.
Jeff Taylor mitigating said: “The initial losses were of £20 or £40 but she started to play more often and for longer periods of time, she started to invest moremoney and eventually got to a stage where her own money was not enough to manage the bills and her everyday living expenses.”
He continued: “It snowballed into taking out loans and credit cards. This took place over two years and of course you have heard that things started to unravel, and she created more problems for herself.”
Denise Postgate pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and was given an 18-month community order with 25 rehabilitation activity days. In addition to this, she must pay an £85 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs.
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