A woman with a secret gambling habit cashed in her partner's shares and silver bullion to fund her habit. Laura Townsend spent £24,646.89 of her partner's cash without his knowledge.

The victim allowed her access to his bank account so she could pay the household bills - but when Townsend's fraud was uncovered, he found out that the bills had not been paid and he was behind on his mortgage. The victim, who is severely dyslexic and works as a contract manager in the construction sector, became suspicious when he asked Townsend, 40, to get £1,000 out of his account in September 2023.

He had asked her to withdraw the cash to pay for work done on their home - but Townsend said there was "an administrative error." She gave him a bank statement showing the balance of his account was £23,500. B

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