'Horrifically mean' shopping addict working at Leeds care firm drained £70,000 from dead clients' accounts

Grandmother Lynn Mann was a clients’ money officer at St Anne’s Community Services charity, based in Woodhouse, and siphoned the cash from six people’s accounts to feed her shopping habit. Leeds Crown Court was told that the 57-year-old spent a year forging documents so that money would be paid back to the company, and then to her.

In what the the judge described as “horrifically mean”, Mann would often begin taking cash in varying sums from the accounts from those who recently died. Once the funds were depleted, she would then close the accounts, prosecutor Benjamin Bell told the court.

Between February 2021 and February 2022, she stole £69,908. The most she took from one victim was in excess of £27,000. Her thefts were uncovered after a finance officer for the charity, which supports vulnerable members of society, noticed discrepancies in clients’ accounts. It was soon traced to Mann who had access.

She was suspended in November 2021, and left a month later, but payments were still made to her thereafter. She was interviewed by police and gave no comments. Mann, of Bellflower Close, Castleford, later admitted fraud by abuse of position. She has a previous conviction in 2001 for benefit fraud, for which she received a community order.

A probation report found that she accepted responsibility in full and was addicted to shopping, recognising she had a problem. The mother-of-two said she ran up debts and used the stolen money to pay them off, but then would run up more debts by buying further items she didn’t need. The court heard that her habit deteriorated after her daughter fell pregnant with Mann’s grandchild.

Mann has since gained a new job as a ledger clerk at a different company, but they were unaware of her pending court case.

Mitigating, Richard Canning said: “She has always been in debt since the age of 16, with credit cards, catalogues and loans. It spiralled out of control. She is genuinely remorseful and thoroughly ashamed. She wishes she could pay it all back.”

He said that up to £18,000 has been repaid back and Proceeds of Crime Act timetable has now been set to help recoup further losses. Mr Canning said her wages pay for the mortgage of the family’s house, which could be lost if she was sent into custody.

But Judge Simon Batiste said a custodial sentence was the only option, and so jailed her for 32 months. He told her: “You took from six people and took the remaining money of those who died. They were clearly highly-vulnerable individuals. This was money you spent to further your need to buy items that were not necessary. It was stealing to support your greed.

"You are remorseful now for what you have done. This is a serious offence of its type. It was horrifically mean to victims of such vulnerability to feed you own wish to shop.”