Saved by her victim: Carer who drained an 84-year-old widow’s life savings of £33,000 in a 15-month con is spared jail after the pensioner writes to the judge begging him for leniency

• Victim Ann Sharp wrote to the court urging the judge not to impose prison

A carer who stole almost £33,000 of life savings from a childless widow has walked free from court after the 84-year-old victim wrote to a judge pleading for leniency.

Mother-of-two Josie McLachlan, 48, became close to Ann Sharp after caring for her and her late husband, a court heard. 

Mrs Sharp treated McLachlan like ‘the daughter she never had’ and they knew each other for more than 40 years – however, McLachlan abused the trust between them following the death of Mrs Sharp’s partner.

‘At a time when she should have been supporting the victim, she used her position for her own financial gain,’ police said.

Businesswoman McLachlan stole up to £700 every week over a 15 month period from Mrs Sharp by forging cheques in her name until she had drained her account of nearly £33,000.

When Mrs Sharp raised questions about the missing money, company director McLachlan lied to her face about where it had gone and instead pretended to call police and even feigned phone calls to her bank in front of her to ask about the illicit transfers.

Josie McLachlan, a two-faced businesswoman who stole the life savings of a childless widow who treated her as ‘the daughter she never had’

Detectives uncovered the fraud after subsequently being alerted by staff at a management company and discovered McLachlan, who lives in the affluent village of Tarporley, Cheshire, had been jailed in 2019 after she was caught stealing from her former employers at a charity where she was business manager. 

She later claimed she had financial difficulties due to ‘relationship issues’ and was using Mrs Sharp’s money for day-to-day living.

At Chester Crown Court, McLachlan faced up to four years jail under sentencing guidelines after she pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation between February 2022 and May 2023.

But she was sentenced to two years in jail suspended for 24 months after the judge Mr Recorder Michael Hayton KC revealed Mrs Sharp who is known affectionately as ‘Granny Annie’ had written to the court urging him not to impose a prison sentence.

The victim is currently being cared for by McLachlan’s 88-year old father.

Sentencing the judge told McLachlan: ‘You committed the most grotesque breach of trust against someone you called Granny Annie. Despite there being no blood connection, she received you as a family member.

‘The idea that you could speak on the phone pretending to communicate with the bank about monies that had gone missing from Ann Sharp’s bank account knowing full well that it was you responsible for those monies going missing was blatantly cruel and mean.

McLachlan claimed she had financial difficulties due to ‘relationship issues’ and was using Mrs Sharp’s money for day-to-day living

McLachlan stole up to £700 every week over a 15 month period from Mrs Sharp by forging cheques in her name until she had drained her account of nearly £33,000

‘This behaviour to her face must be for a lady like Ann Sharp, at her age, with the few social connections that she has, utterly, utterly devastating. And yet, despite this grotesque breach of trust she feels generous enough even now to say that she does not want you to go to custody because of the impact on you and others.

‘If only you had one ounce of her generosity of spirit, one ounce of her decency. But In my judgement you have neither.’

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He added: ‘You say you were short of money, you say you required cash. But I have no doubt if you had said, ‘Times are awful, he is mean to me, could you help me out?’ she would have done so.

‘You were taking £100s week in week out, month in month out, until Ann Sharp’s life savings were exhausted. It is breathtaking meanness and I hope every time you look in the mirror for the rest of your life, you remember what she did for you and in particular what you did to her. For Mrs Sharp it will never be washed away.

‘In almost any case of this kind an immediate custodial sentence is necessary but I am not sending you to prison – and by the bitterest irony, the person you have to thank for that is Ann Sharp herself.

‘She has written in clear and emotional terms to the court about what she thinks of you and what she wants of you.

‘It has been acknowledged that the sentence is for me and not for her – but when Ann Sharp speaks to your father, who continues to care for her and is taking her to medical appointments, she would without a doubt blame herself for your incarceration.

‘I am not going to put her and your father, one of the most thoroughly decent men living, through all that despite your wickedness. 

‘You are saved by Ann Sharp and you are fortunate indeed. You should thank Ann Sharp. 

‘You should always remember her generosity in writing that letter because it means that you are going home to your children and not to jail.’

McLachlan will also have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitation activity and participate with a six month mental health treatment programme

The investigation began in June in this year after Mrs Sharp told the director of a company which manages her property that money was mysteriously going missing from her bank account and that she thought McLachlan herself had informed police.

Miss Shannon Stewart, prosecuting said: ‘Officers visited the victim and were informed that there had been an issue with her cheque book but that the defendant, had reported this to the police and the bank. 

‘The victim details how the defendant would pretend to make calls to the bank in front of her in order to address the fraudulent activity. She says she now feels isolated as she lives in the same house as the defendant’s parents – and she is worried about the effect this will have on their relationship. 

‘She is vulnerable and not able to trust people. This was the deliberate targeting of a victim on the basis of vulnerability.’

The total amount stolen was £32,713.50.

In a statement Mrs Sharp said: ‘This incident took a great physical toll on me. I never had children and I treated Josie as the daughter I never had even though she was not even a family member. She was someone I wholeheartedly trusted and yet defrauded me of my life savings required to make my life comfortable at my age.

‘On those occasions when she would make calls to the bank in front of me, knowing that she was lying to my face, was heartbreaking. I feel going forward I will struggle to trust people. I just want her to get help to stop her offending in this way.’

NatWest have since refunded the stolen money to the victim. When interviewed McLachlan claimed she was ‘in a bad place’ at the time of the thefts.

She had been previously convicted of theft after she used a company credit card to illicitly make £300 worth of eBay purchases including shoes, perfume and an iPhone case for herself whilst she was working as the marketing and business development manager at Save the Family charity in Chester.

She was initially given 20 weeks jail suspended for 20 months – but was later locked up when she failed to complete unpaid work.

When interviewed McLachlan claimed she was ‘in a bad place’ at the time of the thefts

Her counsel Anna Price said: ‘Miss McLachlan is deeply ashamed of her behaviour and the impact on Mrs Sharp and also the other members of her family. She is deeply ashamed to find herself in this situation – not so much because of the impact on her but the impact it would have on those she loves.

‘The offence occurred when in a relationship and whilst she knows that’s not an excuse for behaving in the way she did, she found herself resorting to desperate measures. The money was spent on simply living – there is no evidence of a luxury lifestyle.

‘She supports two children and is caring for her parents and her ‘aunt’. She has a very small business selling items on Etsy but is relying on Universal Credit. Her main concern is the impact on her children. Her son is home schooled and she takes her 13-year-old daughter to school. Her son would need to return to mainstream school and her daughter would have to move schools if she went to prison.

‘Mrs Sharp has now been compensated. The defendant is no danger to the public in future.’

McLachlan will also have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitation activity and participate with a six month mental health treatment programme

Det Con Gareth Yates, of Cheshire Police said after the case: ‘McLachlan was a trusted family member who had known the victim for more than 40 years – however, she abused this trust following the death of the victim’s partner.

‘At a time when she should have been supporting the victim, she used her position for her own financial gain. Her crimes are likely to have a lasting impact on the victim, both financially and emotionally.’

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