Mum stole £15,000 from her own autistic son and blew cash on shopping and taxis

Cheryl Lynes, 47, withdrew cash set aside for her son’s therapeutic activities and holidays.

A ‘despicable’ mum who stole £15,000 in savings from her vulnerable autistic son and spent it all on herself has been spared jail.

Cheryl Lynes, 47, withdrew cash set aside for her son’s therapeutic activities and holidays over a three-year period until a social worker became suspicious.

She treated herself to shopping trips and wasted huge sums on taxis, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

Judge Robert Pawson told her: ‘I have no doubt that you targeted your son because of his vulnerability. It’s almost unbelievable that any parent in your circumstances would do that.’

Lynes, from Dorset, admitted fraud by abuse of position and was handed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The court heard she took charge of her son’s finances when he first moved into assisted living in Bournemouth aged 18.

Rose Burns, prosecuting, said he has severe communication difficulties, suffers with autism, and lacks the capacity to manage his own money.

The funds in question had been saved up by a foster carer who had looked after him before he went into assisted living accommodation, she added.

Lynes withdrew between £14,000 and £15,000 from her son’s account from 2017 to 2020 before a social worker became suspicious of her spending and contacted the police.

Defending, Christopher Pix said this was a ‘highly unsophisticated fraud’, adding his client had ‘limited intelligence’.

‘She’s of good character and she’s not, for example, a professional fraudster,’ Mr Pix said.

‘This is a lady who is incredibly remorseful and accepts responsibility.’

Mr Pix told the court Lynes experienced an ‘incredibly sad childhood’ in foster care and ‘has not had an easy life’ since.

He said she was heavily in debt and could not repay the stolen money.

The judge told Lynes: ‘Your son is extremely vulnerable, and you took advantage of that over the course of about two or three years.

‘You, in effect, stole £15,000 from him. You took £15,000, or thereabouts, of his money and spent it on who knows, shopping?

‘I noticed one of the things you spent money on was taxis – a total waste of money.

‘I’m afraid there is only one word for what you did, and it’s contemptible. Most members of the public would go further to say its despicable.’

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