National Lottery jackpot winner stole £24k from mum with dementia so he could gamble
$6,000 Welcome Bonus
A former delivery driver with a severe gambling problem defrauded more than £24,000 from his dementia-stricken mother after he won a quarter of a million through the National Lottery.
Barry Perryman, 41, spent four years selfishly withdrawing money from her credit card for himself while being her carer, Plymouth Crown Court heard.
The family had won the £250,000 jackpot on a scratchcard bought from a Londis store, Plymouth Live reports.
But within months of the win in September 2014, Perryman was using her credit card to fund his gambling habit as she became further afflicted by her dementia.
He is now claiming Universal Credit, after an injury at work forced him to go on benefits.
Perryman's own barrister said his client would have gambled away the entire £250,000 if had been allowed access to the money.
The defendant bought the winning ticket, matching four numbers on a Winning 7s scratchcard.
Handing him a suspended prison sentence, Judge Simon Carr said that Perryman had sought to blame everyone but himself.
He added the defendant had even tried to deny his brother his inheritance by trying to remove him from a will, because he was the person who reported him to the police.
Judge Carr said: "You live in a house with your parents bought from the winnings on the National Lottery.
"Your mother sadly deteriorated in her health and by 2019 her dementia was such that there was intervention of the Court of Protection in order to financially manage her affairs.
"It was discovered to the horror of the family that you had been stealing from her. You used a credit card which had been entrusted to you entirely for your own benefit and for your gambling addiction."
"What you did was remove more than £26,000 which would have improved her quality of life immeasurably."
Judge Carr handed Perryman a 21-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He must complete the probation service's Rehabilitation Activity Requirement supervision programme and pay a £500 fine.
Perryman, of Wombwell Crescent, Keyham, pleaded guilty to transferring £24,000 from Christine Perryman's account without her permission between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018.
Perryman lived with his bus driver father Roy, who also served in the Royal Navy, and his mother at the time of the win.
The family had also won £1,000 on a scratchcard the previous year.
Barry Perryman even had a YouTube account where he has posted live videos for two years of him scratching away numbers before his success.
