Maxine Campbell would go to the victim’s house at midnight so she could drain her pension the moment it entered her account
Maxine Campbell, of William Roberts Lane, Kirkby(Image: Merseyside Police)
A thief plundered an elderly woman’s pension pot and stripped her of £50,000, leaving her with just a single loaf of bread and some biscuits to live on. Maxine Campbell, 60, from Kirkby preyed on the vulnerable victim for three years, going to her house in the middle of the night so she could drain her pension the moment it entered her account at midnight.
In total, she stole £55,042.38 from the victim, a woman in her late 80s, by means of fraud between February 2021 and March 2024. She also stole a further £2,385 in cash from the vulnerable widow, who lived alone.
She appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today, August 7, after pleading guilty to theft and fraud by false representation. She sobbed tearlessly throughout the hearing as Judge Stuart Driver was told how she used her victim’s pension and credit card “on a daily basis”.
Prosecutor Lahraib Iqbal said: “[The victim] was best friends with this defendant’s mother, and after [the victim]’s husband passed away in 2019, the defendant was able to gain access to her address unchallenged.
“[The victim]’s address was being regularly attended by this defendant. The defendant would attend just before midnight on Sundays just before her pension went into her account. She would walk towards the nearest cash machine around 10 minutes after midnight in order to withdraw all the funds from her account.
“The defendant began to take her debit card, saying she was only going to take £20, but would drain the account in its entirety.”
She said Campbell told the victim that her daughter and grandchildren were after her money, and wanted to put her in a care home. The victim became fearful and gave Campbell £50 for a CCTV camera – but when a neighbour asked about the purchase, the victim “passed him a PlayStation remote which she believed was a working camera”.
On another occasion when the victim was in hospital, Campbell “attended the hospital and asked for her debit cards to be thrown out of the hospital window” to her.
A neighbour who did the victim’s shopping for her said the pensioner had been left with no food “numerous times”. Ms Iqbal added: “[The victim] is now frightened to go outside. She’s too scared. She can’t leave her house and hasn’t left her house for 10 months. She feels she’s not in a position to defend herself like she was years ago.
“Due to the defendant’s actions, [the victim] was left with only one loaf of bread, a few biscuits, and some candles as she had no money to pay for her electricity bill.”
Lucy Moran, defending, said Campbell disputed telling the victim her daughter and grandchildren were after her money. She said the nan-of-two had been a heroin user for 40 years, and had a long-standing drugs debt.
She said her new-born daughter had died just 40 minutes after she was born, which had made a “long-standing impact on her mental health” which she had never received help for.
She said: “Her husband passed away two years ago from cancer, and he was also a drug user. Her mother passed away four years ago and her father three years ago. She has not had any help with her drug addiction.”
Sentencing, judge Stuart Driver said: “These were mean offences. It was committed over a sustained period of three years and targeted a vulnerable victim.
“This is a case of high impact. It’s had a serious detrimental effect on the victim, both financial and otherwise. The loss of £50,000 is insupportable to someone on an old age pension, and who you describe as ‘not having much’. There’s also been a serious emotional and health impact. You betrayed a trusting relationship with an elderly lady who you had known all of your life.
“In mitigation, you have a serious drug addiction. You’re not in great health. You told the probation officer of your poor physical and mental health, which I acknowledge although there is no diagnosis.
“There no remorse in this case. In fact the probation officer thought there was a lack of it. But the sentence will be reduced for your plea of guilty.”
He sentenced Campbell, of William Roberts Lane, Kirkby, to a total of three years in prison. On being told her sentence, Campbell said “am I going down?”, and cried as she was escorted from the docks.