Grandaughter stole life savings: leaving grandmother penniless

Updated
Katie Gosley-Shaw
Katie Gosley-Shaw



Katie Gosley-Shaw, a 38-year-old from Tockwith in York, has been found guilty of stealing £140,000 from her grandmother, and squandering it on spa trips, holidays, clothes and a car. The former hair products company employee left her 89-year-old grandmother penniless and unable to heat her own home.

The York Press said Gosley-Shaw stole the money from her grandmother, Ruth Gosley, between 2009 and 2012. Among her extravagances were a £10,000 trip to a health spa, overseas trips, expensive clothes and a £21,000 car. Gosley-Shaw was also claiming benefits at the same time.

The Daily Express reported that during the entire period she was taking the money, she saw her grandmother, every day, but she never suspected a thing. It was only subsequently that Gosley thought she may have been stealing from her whenever she asked her to write a cheque on her behalf.

According to The Daily Mail, the theft was only uncovered when Gosley visited the hairdresser and said she couldn't heat her home to escape the freezing temperatures, because her granddaughter hadn't ordered more heating oil. The hairdresser was suspicious, so called the police.

Gosley-Shaw has been bailed in order to spend Christmas with her children, but is expected to receive a jail sentence.

Stealing from your grandmother

It's a horrible story, but when it comes to stealing from elderly people, you would be shocked at how far some people go.

Earlier this month a 23-year-old pleaded guilty to burgling his grandparents home and stealing their life savings. He was tracked down after his fingerprints were found on an envelope which had held the money. He said he was being blackmailed and was desperate.

In California this week a 14-year-old stole a car and two guns from his grandmother, then drove off to swap the guns for marijuana. Police caught up with him when he stopped the car to have a smoke.

In November, a 19-year-old from Yorkshire stole over £3,000 from is grandmother while she was lying in intensive care. He said he used the money to fund a gambling addiction, after he took her to hospital and she lent him her bank card in order to withdraw enough money for a taxi home.

In the US this month an 11-year-old stole $10,000 from her grandmother's sock drawer so she could take a taxi thousands of miles across the country to meet a 16-year-old boy she'd been talking to online. The cab had travelled 500 miles before police tracked the driver down and she was taken back home.

And back in September a woman from Sunderland emptied her mother and her grandmother's accounts - leaving her mum with an overdraft and stealing her Gran's heating allowance. She took the money to pay for drugs, and is working to pay both women back.

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Footage of Skydiving Great-Grandmother
Footage of Skydiving Great-Grandmother




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