A UK National Lottery winner who blew her winnings and then stole her 88-year-old mother's life savings and used them to fund an extravagant lifestyle will be living life in the slow lane for the foreseeable future because her unscrupulous greed has secured a prison sentence.
Former Avon lady, Abbi Kinsella, 54, won £175,000 on the lottery in 1999. The win should have provided her with financial freedom, but the money was gone in record time and Kinsella was soon getting free and easy with her mother's money instead.
Margaret Bowyer used to rent a house next door to her daughter's home in Tamworth, Staffordshire. She is now living in a care after her daughters actions rendered her homeless.
Bowyer suffers from dementia and her failing mental health made her an easy target. Soon after Kinsella took control of Bowyer's finances she began funneling cash from her mother's account into her own, transferring over £61,000 in three years and withdrawing a further £38,000 in cash. She used the money to feed her online bingo habit and to pay for luxury holidays in the South of France.
By April 2011, all Bowyer's savings were gone so Kinsella cancelled the direct debits for her mother's rent, council tax, and utility bills. Bowyer was evicted from her home in November 2012, and had debts in excess of £20,000.
When sentencing her, Judge Mark Eades told Kinsella she had betrayed her mother's trust in a callous and unfeeling fashion.
"You are a serial liar who has no conscience at all," Eades said. "You enjoyed living way beyond your means."
Kinsella admitted one count of fraud and the jury found her guilty of four charges of theft. Judge Eades sentenced her to four years in prison, but took her lack of assets into consideration and ordered her to pay £1. She had stolen a total of £100,966 from her mother.
