This snivelling cocaine addict rinsed his grandparents’ bank accounts of thousands of pounds during lockdown to fund his habit leaving them reliant on charity for food.
Bradley Morrison, 26, took more than £13,000 from the couple, in their eighties, over the course of six months and used the money to buy booze and drugs.
He was photographed looking tearful after being arrested for his disgraceful crime.
He was locked up for two years after a court heard how he preyed on the elderly couple by taking advantage of their love for him.
The theft was discovered when a carer found the couple did not have enough money to pay for food when she went shopping for them as they shielded during lockdown.
The couple were forced to rely on charity to pay for food and bills as a result of Morrison’s offending, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Emily Jenkins, prosecuting, said Morrison began asking his grandparents for money in January this year.
The court heard he was allowed to use their bank cards to withdraw cash on the understanding the cards would be returned to them.
But Ms Jenkins said Morrison would keep the cards for days at a time without giving them back.
The couple told their carer that their grandson had their bank cards and she contacted Morrison to demand they be returned.
Morrison turned up at his grandparents’ home when the woman threatened to call police, the court was told.
The prosecutor said Morrison started to cry and said he did not have the cards before giving his grandmother £50 for shopping.
Morrison later returned the cards and it was discovered the couple’s three bank accounts were almost empty.
The victims were devastated and had to rely on help from a parish charity fund to pay bills, the court heard.
Police were contacted and Morrison was interviewed on May 27 before being bailed.
The court heard Morrison continued to prey on the couple and told his grandparents he needed £30 to pay for a bus pass.
Morrison told his grandfather on July 4 he needed to pay vet bills as his dog was injured.
He was given a bank card and returned it five days later.
A bank statement later revealed transactions had been made that they did not recognise.
Morrison’s grandmother tried to use the bank card on July 9 but there were insufficient funds in the account.
Ms Jenkins said Morrison took a total of £13,144 from their account and the couple were also charged £178 in banking fees due to the accounts being overdrawn.
Morrison, of Church View, Castleford, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation.
Ms Jenkins said the offending was aggravated by the vulnerability of the victims.
She said: “He cleaned out their three bank accounts, effectively, which means it must have had a serious detrimental affect on them.”
In a victim impact statement, read out to the court, Morrison’s grandparents said the offending had also affected them emotionally but they keep in touch with him.
They said: “I don’t wish to say much but I hope this is a wake-up call for Bradley.
“Bradley is our grandson and we want the best for him.
“I hope this can be a lesson for him.”
Morrison has a previous conviction for fraud committed against his grandparents in 2017, for which he was made the subject of a community order.
Stephen Swan, mitigating, said: “They were clearly kind-hearted and wanted to help him and frankly still do.
“He breached their trust in an inexcusable manner.
“I won’t argue against the fact that he targeted them.”
Mr Swan said Morrison carried out the offending when he was suffering from depression after the relationship with his partner broke down.
The barrister said his client began to drink heavily and use cocaine.
He said: “The habit became a major problem.
“This spate of offending followed. He is deeply ashamed and sorry for the distress he has caused to the two people in the world who cared for him the most.
“He believed he had the use of cocaine under control but realises now that it was controlling him.”
Jailing Morrison, Judge Robin Mairs said: “Effectively you drained their accounts of practically every penny.
“They had stopped buying food because they could not afford it.
“It is difficult to think of a more despicable financial offence.
“They were devastated and had to rely on charity because of what you did.
“Even when on police bail you returned to your grandparents and preyed upon them again.”
