Charity shop worker ‘betrayed’ family then made ‘bizarre excuses’
Barbara Roberts outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A charity shop volunteer made up a string of “bizarre excuses” after “betraying” her family. Barbara Roberts embarked upon a two-year “deception”, in which she pocketed more than £13,000 that was due to a relative in their aunt’s will.
When finally caught, the pensioner then claimed that her bank account had been hacked and blamed her financial woes on issues including a broken boiler. While she was accused of showing a “complete lack of remorse” for her crimes, she instead claims that she “found herself in a situation she couldn’t get out of” after “getting in over her head”.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Monday, that Roberts, of Mill Road in Ainsdale, was appointed as executor and trustee of the estate of Eileen Charnock, who died aged 90 in March 2022. As part of her will, the 66-year-old defendant and the deceased’s niece Susan Corrie were each due to receive a 50/50 share in the £175,000 profits from the sale of her house.
While Roberts claimed that the money had “gone into a bank account and was earning interest”, Sarah Egan, prosecuting, described how she often failed to respond to contact from the other beneficiary between December 2023 and January 2025 or “made excuses”. But matters “culminated” during a meeting between the two parties at Lloyds bank in Southport on January 28 last year.
Roberts, who the ECHO understands was the niece of Ms Charnock’s late partner, transferred a sum of £75,000 to Ms Corrie on this occasion, and was challenged about an outstanding £13,441.71 sum which was also owed. However, the retired financial services consultant and pensions advisor “confirmed that she had spent it on living expenses and sorting her house out”.
Although Roberts stated that she would take out a loan in order to repay Ms Corrie, she subsequently claimed that she had been unable to do so due to her email address and current account being hacked and as a result of “issues with British Gas”, both of which she said had negatively impacted upon her credit score. While brochures relating to kitchens and investment portfolios were later obtained from her property, police were ultimately not able to determine how she had spent the funds.
In a statement which was read out to the court on her behalf, Ms Corrie said: “Although Barbara Roberts’ deception went on for over two years, I continued to believe she was trustworthy. I was manipulated into feeling like a nuisance, as if begging cap in hand for money which was rightfully mine.
“I knew something wasn’t right, but I didn’t know what. It left me emotionally unsettled and anxious. People close to me warned me she was lying, but I continued to trust her. I defended her to the hilt. I couldn’t believe she’d betray Auntie Eileen and I in such a way.
“The peace of mind I once had was taken from me when she betrayed my trust. I was made to feel bothersome, as if I was asking for something I wasn’t entitled to. The complete lack of remorse continues to make me feel angry. I can’t understand how she can do this and not care. I’ve known her all my life. There’s a deep sense of betrayal and distress. She made excuse after excuses, from broken boilers to accounts being hacked.”
Barbara Roberts outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Roberts subsequently gave a prepared statement to detectives under interview, in which she “accepted a shortfall of about £13,000” and said she “intended to repay the money owned and would do so as soon as she was able to”. She has one previous convictions for driving while disqualified and driving without insurance in June 2013.
Jim Smith, defending, told the court: “Of course, what she has done she has known for a very long time was wrong. She found herself in a situation she could not get out of following the reckless decisions she took to expend the amount that was still owed to a beneficiary when she got over her head in relation to expenditure on her property and bills that she had to pay. She never set out to do what she did. She knows that what she did caused harm, and she is sorry for that.
“By virtue of her actions, which were, of course, never planned from the outset but started because of financial problems that she was encountering, she has now deprived herself of that family support. The only person that she has is her partner, who has stage four cancer. She has destroyed those supportive groups, those people who meant so much to her, and she is paying the price for it.
“She has had difficulties with a history of depression since her divorce in 2011. This defendant has suffered somewhat since her school days. She is a type two diabetic. She has back problems and a displaced hip.
“She is in receipt of a private pension and state pension. She has wanted to repay the amount of the overspend. It was obvious that all suspicion would come to her, once the estate was not dealt with. She has placed herself in this invidious position, having the shame of having undertaken irresponsibly the estate.
“She is presently not working. She spends a lot of time with her partner in Sheffield. She provides care for him. She attends all hospital appointments with him. They have been a couple for 14 years now. She does voluntary work in a charity shop two days a week.
“There has been some 14 months now since the offending finished. Not surprisingly, there has been no further offending from this defendant. She has suffered a great deal already. She always wanted the payments to be made to the beneficiary, and they will be made. This is case which is sad case for all parties involved.”
Roberts admitted one count of fraud by abuse of position. Appearing in the dock wearing a navy blue and white striped jumper and sporting brown shoulder length hair, she was handed a 10-month imprisonment suspended for a year with 100 hours of unpaid work.
Barbara Roberts outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Sentencing, Recorder Anna Price said: “You were the executor of Eileen Charnock’s will, that, of course, being a trusted position that you accepted. One of the beneficiaries of the will was Ms Charnock’s niece. In your role, you were responsible for paying a little over £88,000 to Ms Corrie. You, in fact, only paid £75,000.
“It is right to say that the £75,000 itself was only paid by you after significant efforts had been made by Ms Corrie to obtain from you what was rightfully owed to her. She spent months chasing you. You made repeated excuses. When you were finally caught out, you offered to get a loan but did not carry through with that.
“I am sure it is not a surprise to anyone that has heard this case to hear that Ms Corrie has found this all extremely upsetting. She had done nothing wrong. Manipulated by you, is the word that she used, and it is entirely understandable why she felt like that.
“She had to go begging cap in hand to you for money that was rightfully hers. She knew that something was not right, but could not put her finger on what. She describes increasingly bizarre excuses which you made, which just added to her confusion. You were someone that she trusted. You betrayed the trust of Eileen Charnock and Susan Corrie.
“It was clearly an abuse of trust. There is the additional factor of your offending being conducted over a sustained period of time. I accept that you did not set out to behave in this way, but you carried on spending money that was not yours then made excuse after excuse rather than holding your hands up. You effectively fobbed Ms Corrie off for a period of months and showed a complete disregard by spending someone else’s money.
“I accept that you have no relevant convictions. The one conviction that you do have is now dating back almost 13 years. You are now retired, but you do have a good employment record and carry out voluntary work. I accept that you have significant caring responsibilities for your partner. You clearly play a crucial role in his wellbeing. You have physical and mental health difficulties.”