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A
photo taken on July 7, 2005, shows the remains of a double-decker bus that was
blown in Tavistock Square in London. (AFP Photo / Adrian Dennis)
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The
widow of a 7/7 London bombings victim has been jailed for stealing £43,000 from
her son's compensation, awarded after the death of his father.
Louise Gray, 42, spent £250,000 of her own
compensation money on four new cars, a Jacuzzi, seven dogs and clothes before
dipping into her son Adam's fund, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
She
was jailed for two years and eight months after she admitted to stealing the
cash between July 2012 and November 2013.
Judge
David Goodin told Gray: “The
offense you have committed against your son, the trust you betrayed – a second
hammer blow following the death of his father – is so serious it can only be
met by a custodial sentence.”
“The
theft of £43,000 is one thing. The theft of £43,000 by a parent from a young
adult's trust is quite another, when that sum represented most – practically
all – the compensation he received for his father's tragic death,”
he added.
“It's
an act of wickedness almost beyond belief. He has lost not one parent, but
two.”
Her
late husband, accountant Richard Gray, 41, was one of 52 people killed in the
2005 attacks in London as he travelled to work. He was one of seven passengers
killed on a Circle line underground train by Bradford-born suicide bomber
Shehzad Tanweeron.
Two
years after his death, his wife and two children were awarded money by the
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. The widow received £250,000, while
his son Adam was awarded £50,000 and their daughter £100,000.
Adam
was 11 years old when his father was killed. The children's money was placed in
a trust to be accessed after their 18th birthdays, but Adam gave his money to
his mother to look after it until he needed it.
When
Adam asked his mother for the money in November 2013, she confessed she had
spent it, the court was told.
Adam
took civil action to try to recover the cash. His mother was ordered by a
county court judge to repay him the £43,000. He also reported the matter to
police. Consequently, his mother was prosecuted for theft.
Charity
worker Adam said previously: “That
money was supposed to safeguard my future but she's left me penniless. I've
lost my dad and now I've lost my mum,” the Daily Mail reported.
“She never showed me any
remorse and she made me feel as if everything was my fault. Although it is hard
to think of your own mother going to prison because of a crime she has
committed against you, I believe that I deserve some form of justice.”
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