Niece swindled aunt and uncle out of £150k life savings to splash out on 5* hotel stays and swish designer clothes
SICK SCHEME Niece swindled aunt and uncle out of £150k life savings to splash out on 5* hotel stays and swish designer clothes
A NIECE swindled her elderly aunt and uncle out of their £150,000 life savings to fund her lavish lifestyle.
Lucy Paginton funded luxury holidays and trips to five star hotels using money she had pilfered from relatives Frank Hillier, 88, and Mary, 90.
4
Lucy Paginton, 28, targeted her uncle Jack Hillier, 88, and aunt Mary, 90
Credit: WNS
4
The mum-of-one spent time at the five-star Celtic Manor resort in Newport
Credit: Getty
The 28-year-old, of Newport, South Wales, was raised by the couple "like a daughter" since the age of two.
Cardiff Crown Court heard they spoiled her throughout her life, forking out on holidays, buying her gifts and leasing cars on her behalf.
Pensioner Mrs Hillier told how both her and her husband had become "unwell" dealing with the stress and upset after the shocking betrayal.
The mum-of-one spent time at the five-star Celtic Manor resort in Newport and funded trips to high-end designer store Flannels.
Read more News
LOVE OR MONEY Secret lovechild WINS bid to keep half of millionaire toymaker dad's fortune
In 2017, Paginton asked her aunt and uncle for their help to buy a house.
But rather than using the money to put down a deposit, she kept the money they had given her.
To continue her deception, Paginton then forged several documents including correspondence from Halifax bank and Redrow house builders.
Prosecutor Thomas Stanway told the court: "A plan was agreed that they would pay the deposits for two properties.
"Paginton would live in one house and her aunt and uncle in the other.
"The property the Hilliers lived in would then pass over to her after they had died.
"When one considers Miss Paginton's bank statements one can see that in effect the payments were simply made to fund her lifestyle.
"There were visits to the Celtic Manor Resort, payments to Flannels, a high-end designer clothing shop.
My disabled mum said she was in love with US soldier but she'd actually given conman £169k - she's one of 1,000s of Brits being targeted
"There were also payments to various travel companies noted within her bank statements."
In a victim impact statement, Mrs Hillier told how the betrayal had hurt more because the couple had showed Paginton "so much love".
She said: "It hurts because she lied to us and we showed her so much love, gave her holidays, money and she never went without.
"We were willing to buy her a house but she decided to steal from us instead.
"It's affected my mental health and my husband's physical and mental health.
"Every night going to bed I find it difficult to sleep and we're constantly worried about the case.
"The stress of it all has made us unwell."
The court heard she had gained £150,555 from her fraud.
4
Following a ruling at Cardiff Crown Court, Paginton was ordered to pay just £1 because she had no available assets
Credit: Getty
But at a Proceeds of Crime hearing, Paginton was ordered to pay just £1 because she had no available assets.
Mrs Hillier explained that the couple made sure their niece didn't get away with her crimes, but insisted they still loved her.
She added: "We have lost everything we have worked hard for and family have distanced themselves from us.
"We couldn't let her get away with this and can't believe she did this.
"We still love the defendant but she hurt us and broke our trust.
"We hope to get justice from this case and make Lucy realise the consequences of her actions.
She was jailed for four years and eight months in January after pleading guilty to seven counts of fraud at Newport Crown Court.
During her sentencing, Judge Carl Harrison said: "Your victims thought highly of you, they trusted you and they loved you.
"It was that love and trust that led them to falling victim to your repeated dishonest behaviour.
"For four years you cynically and repeatedly abused the trust that Frank and Mary Hillier placed in you to enrich yourself and defraud them.
"They described it as being a living hell. They are an elderly couple who should be looking forward to their future.
"Their lives have been ruined by your selfish actions."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
10 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'Terrified' Brits run from 'charging police' in Serbia riots as armed cops fire tear gas
Tourists have been faced with tear gas and burning barricades as escalating violence takes over Belgrade, nine months on from a disaster that saw 16 people die when a railway station's roof collapsed British tourists have been caught up in major riots in a European capital city. Ben Lawrence, 18, from Stoke-by-Nayland told how he was forced to run with the crowd to escape police attacks in the Serbian capital Belgrade. He told the Mirror: 'The police were charging and starting to attack protesters, so we ran with a horde of people which was terrifying. It wasn't like police at home doing a job, but rather two opposing sides that hate each other.' Tourists have seen their evenings filled with the smell of tear gas, combative chanting and burning barricades manned by thousands of protestors who say they are ready for war, including one who went on to the front line in his wheelchair. The escalating violence has plagued the Balkan country for nine months after 16 people died when a railway station's roof collapsed in Serbia's second largest city, Novi Sad. Demonstrators blamed government incompetence and corruption. But the violence has reached a new level in the last two nights and it's expected to get worse this weekend as protestors call for an end to the government of President Aleksandar Vučić. Ben was on an interrailing trip across Europe when he and two school mates were caught up in the vicious riots. Another Brit staying just up the street from last night's fighting, Jez, 23, from St Albans, said: 'It reminds me of Putin's Russia. I went to Moscow seven or eight years ago and this is quite like it.' The Serbian man who faced down the riot police line in his wheelchair, Vladimir Šupeljak, said he was ready for war or 'whatever it takes' to get rid of Vučić's regime, which has won six national elections since 2014, all marred by alleged fraud. Mr Šupeljak says he doesn't deserve the title of President. 'No. He is the crime boss. He is the boss of the mafia'. No Brits were injured, but dozens of Serbs have been and protests are only getting more extreme. Demonstrators were tearing up paving stones and pallets as anti-police weapons. Fireworks explode against riot shields every night and are answered by hissing tear gas canisters shot into scrambling, masked crowds. The intensity of violence has significantly increased this week. From 7:30pm to 11:30pm on Wednesday and Thursday the city centre was paralysed as thousands of protestors battled police in full riot gear armed with batons, tear gas and flash bangs. Three armoured cars were used to disperse angry mobs. Belgrade electrical engineering student Bogdan Babić, 27, was in the midst of the chaos on both nights. He said he was hit by batons three times on Wednesday. He organised the daily Stop Serbia silent protests where people gather and block streets and stay silent for 16 minutes in memory of the 16 people who died at Novi Sad station. Bogdan said: 'I'm expressing myself by blocking the roads for the people in Novi Sad.' But President Vučić is not impressed by claims of peaceful protest and has promised to arrest more demonstrators "I think it is clear they did not want peace and Ghandi-type protests. There will be more arrests," he said in a live TV broadcast. But Belgrade is bracing itself for even bigger demonstrations this weekend. So far the British government has not issued any travel warning about Belgrade or Serbia generally. Serbia was at the centre of a series of wars in the 1990s marked by the worst European atrocities since World War Two, as the former Yugoslavia broke up.
Wales Online
11 hours ago
- Wales Online
Burglar addicted to drugs since age of 11 broke into house and stole car
Burglar addicted to drugs since age of 11 broke into house and stole car Brian McCann, 41, and an accomplice burgled a family home and took car keys before taking a Mercedes car and dumping it nearby (Image: Media Wales) A serial burglar who became addicted to drugs at 11 years old broke into a family's home and took car keys before stealing a Mercedes vehicle which was later dumped. He and another man broke into another car and took house keys inside an envelope. Brian McCann, 41, and an accomplice broke into a car parked in a street in Bridgend and took an envelope which contained a key. They then went to a nearby property where several items were taken including a Mercedes which was driven away by the burglars. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the car was parked in a nearby street and the defendant and the other man returned three hours later to see if it was still there. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter. Prosecutor Tabitha Walker said a woman returned to her home at 3.45am and realised the Mercedes car was missing. She found her front door was unlocked and open and when she went into the house she noticed several items had been thrown into the front garden. Her husband came down the stairs and asked him where the Mercedes had gone but he was confused. Article continues below She looked at a shelf and noticed the keys to the Mercedes had been taken as well as keys to a BMW and house keys. The police were called and the victims' son realised his school bag, which contained his Apple AirPods, had been taken. Using a feature on the AirPods police were able to track the item to an address in Coity Road. At 9.30am the owner of the car that was broken into saw items inside the vehicle had been moved and saw the envelope in next door's front garden but the key was missing. The defendant was identified from CCTV footage and he was arrested at his home. McCann, of Tremgarth, Wildmill, later pleaded guilty to burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, and theft from a motor vehicle. The court heard he has 48 previous convictions for 92 offences including offences of burglary. In a victim personal statement read by Ms Walker the victim of the house burglary said: "Nothing is the same anymore. "I feel unsafe in my own home, especially with my son, and I'm scared to leave him on his own. My son has been crying a lot and wants to move to a different home... "I feel unsafe. I've never had anything like this happen to me before and I thought my home was a safe place but I no longer feel this way. "I have to keep the lights on all night... I'm worried someone will come back to my home and take my vehicles. I am disgusted someone has done this to me in my own home." In mitigation Abigail Jackson said her client has health issues and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The barrister said the defendant had been addicted to drugs since he was 11 years old and he had been involved in crime for the majority of his life. Article continues below Ms Jackson said her client had become sober from drugs and alcohol in 2015 but relapsed after he discovered his best friend had taken his own life. Judge Simon Mills sentenced McCann to a total of three years imprisonment.
Metro
12 hours ago
- Metro
The common pub habit that marks you out as a 'nightmare' punter
Next time you're in your kitchen, go to the cupboard and look through your drinking glasses. Between the branded beer tankards and comically large gin goblets, how many of them did you actually buy? Like an estimated 37 million Brits, you've probably got one or two pilfered pub glasses — but for 3 million people, stolen goods make up their entire collection. While 27% of respondents to a recent Nisbet's survey admit they've robbed restaurant or pub tableware at some point, the fact that 77% of pubs have experienced this type of theft suggests the actual total is likely far higher. The price of a pint now averages £5.17 across the country (or more than £7 in some parts of the capital) so you may feel like you're owed a freebie. And sneaking the odd glass into your bag is very unlikely to land you in trouble with the law. But it's not a victimless crime, especially in the current economic climate, where one UK pub permanently shuts its doors every day. The cost to establishment can vary massively, although some have reported spending upwards of £2,000 a year on replacing stolen glassware. Considering the price of each one can range from £1 to £6, at £3.50 a pop, the 37 million figure above equates to a massive industry-wide loss of nearly £130 million. Jeremy Clarkson weighed in on the issue last year, after a single day at his Oxfordshire pub, The Farmer's Dog, saw the bar with 104 fewer glasses by last orders. Listing the mounting costs of keeping the business going, the former Top Gear presenter described the situation as 'worse than galling', adding: 'People seem to have it in their heads that if they come in for a pint they are entitled to go home with the glass in which it was served'. And while they don't have to deal with anywhere near the same scale of thefts, many other publicans agree with him. Odette Gibson, co-owner of the Angel of Bow in East London, tells Metro: 'I've been a publican for many years and the situation with light fingered Larrys and the disappearance – euphemistically put – of glassware and tableware makes me just incredulous.' Aside from finding it 'incredibly annoying' when they run out in busy periods, she has less ire for those who rob branded glasses, since they're often given to them free by the breweries. But when it comes to replacing their own, Odette says 'the financial implications can be extremely high,' and 'it's quite easy to lose £500 worth of glasses in a little over six weeks.' Once, she was forced to roll her wheelchair out into the street to chase a group of women who confidently walked out with their goblets — and even more brazenly, refused to give them back until Odette suggested they buy them. Punters have also made off with a number of more valuable items, from handpainted ashtrays to a memorial plaque. 'Economically, it's a nightmare,' she adds. 'Glasses and tableware are expensive and constantly having to replace them is a drain on our resources. It also leads to having to increase your prices to cover these losses… People will take anything, but someone has to pay.' For Callum Murphy, founder of the Newman Arms in Fitzrovia and the Bull and Egret in Covent Garden, it's an ongoing problem, to the point they factor in the cost of theft when purchasing cutlery, crockery and glassware. At the Newman Arms, the Black Velvet is a best-selling cocktail — and the traditional metal receptacles they're served in are a particular 'favourite' for light-fingered drinkers. 'I really think people just don't understand the cost implications to a business,' Callum tells Metro. 'Customers may love the novelty and taste of drinking a Black Velvet from a tankard — but it's a jet‑black hole in the profit-and-loss ledger. Many simply don't realise the hidden cost for a small business.' More Trending Some owners have taken more drastic steps to try to deter thieves, including the Griet pub in Ghent, Belgium, which takes one shoe from each customer when they purchase a pint as a 'deposit'. Others have resigned themselves to eating the cost, with one landlord on Reddit joking: 'Suppose it goes death, taxes, customers stealing glassware.' Ultimately, it comes down to pub-goers' behaviour. It's easy to forget the industry-wide impact with a 'one won't matter' mentality. But if people want to ensure their local stays open – and don't want to pay more for their pints – leaving that glass at the bar is one small step. This article was first published on August 1, 2025. Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ View More » MORE: I stumbled across the best bar ever in Europe's newly-crowned 'safest city' MORE: Capri pants are the hybrid item to see you through summer well into autumn MORE: Anya Hindmarch's Universal Bag is making a comeback – here's how to get your hands on the designer tote Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
