Vale mum profited in £27k home sale error (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Vale mum profited in £27k home sale error

A MOTHER-OF-TWO who went on a spending spree with her husband after they were wrongly paid nearly £28,000 over the sale of their house has been found guilty of theft.

Gillian Malin wept as a jury of nine men and three women returned a unanimous verdict after a 90-minute retirement at Worcester Crown Court.

Malin, aged 41, and now living with her parents in Ennis Close, Widnes, was remanded on bail for a pre-sentence report.

Her 34-year-old husband Andrew, of Watling Street, Towcester, Northants, who pleaded guilty before the trial to theft from the First National Bank, will be sentenced at the same time.

The pair sold their house in Withytrees Road, South Littleton, for £127,000 in 2002. But an error by a conveyancing clerk at solicitors Parkinson Wright meant that a loan of £27,943 was not discharged.

Instead of receiving £24,620 from the sale, £52,563 was paid into Mrs Malin's bank account. The couple then visited Spain, America and France and the money had all gone, said Trevor Meegan, prosecuting.

Malin told the jury how she and her husband had decided to "make a new life in the sun" after a series of traumas.

These included being made redundant, having a car accident and suffering from post natal depression.

They had always intended moving to Spain but the accommodation was so awful they decided on a holiday in Florida for Christmas.

After returning to Spain, they decided to move on to France and rented a cottage in Brittany.

She claimed she was not aware of the settlement figure after the house sale. "I am so naive. Like a stupid woman, I always left the finances to my husband."

The court heard there were rows and the marriage started to fall apart. Her husband went away to work and she suspected he was having an affair. They were divorced last week.

She put the furniture in storage and went back to her parents. "I am guilty of being stupid and taking the word of a man," she said.

Catherine Spedding, defending, submitted there was an innocent explanation to the financial transactions. The Malins had always intended to go to Spain and didn't flit as soon as the money was in the bank account.

But Mr Meegan said it must have been obvious that a mistake had been made as soon as the money was transferred.