Sick mum left ‘on brink of eviction’ after ‘evil’ daughter stole £40k for takeaways
Michelle Moore was given control of her mother Lynne Mill’s finances after her husband died and she was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, but she squandered £40,000 on clothes and takeaways
Michelle Moore was entrusted with her mum’s finances
A vulnerable woman who was conned out of £40,000 by her “evil” daughter claims the ordeal nearly left her homeless and has ripped her family apart. Michelle Moore was entrusted with her mum Lynne Mill’s finances after her husband passed away and she was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2019.
The court heard how the 39-year-old took her 68-year-old mother’s card under the pretence of buying groceries while caring for her. However, the court was told that she instead frittered away thousands of pounds on clothes and takeaways, leaving her penniless and on the brink of eviction.
Michelle’s sister, Taryna Mills, expressed her shock when she finally visited her mum’s flat to find it in a state of ‘squalor’. Lynne was forced to take her daughter to court to prove to those chasing her debts that she hadn’t been handling her own finances.
The great-grandmother, who has 21 grandchildren, said she’d hoped a spell in prison would set her daughter straight.
But, after Chelmsford Crown Court learned she was the sole carer of her five children, a judge suspended her prison sentence – telling her she should be ‘thoroughly ashamed’ of her actions. Lynne and Tarnya, 42, who has now taken over the care of her mother, say they were ‘disgusted’ that Michelle avoided a prison sentence, reports the Mirror.
“I couldn’t believe she would do what she did,” Lynne said. “She stole sweets from shops as a kid, like any child, but one time she came back with a bag full of makeup.
“I took her to Bexleyheath Police Station the next day and told them to lock her in a cell for an hour. I thought it would teach her a lesson, but obviously it didn’t.
“She said in court that she’d had a traumatic childhood, but she was the spoilt one. I knew what Michelle was like when she was younger, but I didn’t think she would do anything like this.
“It has only been the court case that has made it all sink in. All I kept thinking was: I had five girls and I brought them all up the same… Why has she turned out like that?”
Michelle began using her mother’s card after becoming her carer in 2020, refusing to hand it back despite Lynne’s repeated demands. She admitted to nicking more than £40,000 of her mother’s cash over three years – a figure which doesn’t include weekly grocery bills of up to £300, as these couldn’t be proven as not being for Lynne.
However, Lynne and Taryna insist the actual sum stolen topped £50,000, but that Michelle had agreed to admit guilt to charges involving £40,000 to dodge a trial. The court heard the cash was moved into bank accounts belonging to Michelle and her husband, Wayne.
Card purchases included spending at Amazon, Apple, Halfords, Primark, New Look, McDonald’s, Just Eat and even sex toys and lingerie shop Ann Summers. Tarnya claims that Michelle would reassure her that she was taking proper care of their mother, while also impersonating her mother to request advance Universal Credit payments. “I’ve been caring for mum since Michelle left in August 2023,” Tarnya shared.
“The level of care was nothing like what my sister was making out. We were all brought up in the same household – all five of us under one roof. She was the youngest and, out of all of us, she had it best.”
Matters came to a head in August 2023 when, during the peak of summer, Mrs Mills asked her daughter to buy a £40 fan – only for Moore to tell her she couldn’t afford it. A dispute ensued, with Michelle tossing her mother’s card back at her and calling her sister to declare she would no longer be providing care.
When Tarnya entered her mum’s flat, she was shocked by its state. She found that, in addition to empty cupboards, there weren’t even any sheets on her mum’s bed.
“It was in squalor,” said Tarnya, a mum-of-four. “I was shocked. I hadn’t been in there, due to Covid and because I was looking after mum’s mum. We were in different bubbles. Obviously, you feel guilt, but you just don’t expect a family member to do what she did.”
Tarnya disclosed that her mum had also been asking Michelle to send money to her grandchildren for birthdays and Christmas. “They never received a penny,” she stated. “It was all going into Michelle’s pocket.
“You don’t expect it from a carer, but you certainly don’t expect it from your own daughter. For dinner, mum would get a bit of cold pizza brought round, or some Chinese or the leftovers of whatever Michelle’s family had eaten the night before.
“I asked her for a couple of pairs of slippers from Primark once,” Lynne added. “They were a pound each. Michelle told me I didn’t have enough money. That same day, she went into Colchester and spent about £700.
“Michelle’s daughter would say to me, ‘Mummy used your card in Morrison’s. I will nick it back off her and give it back to you’. That was from a nine-year-old. Even her children knew it was wrong.”
After switching her plea to guilty on the day of her trial, Michelle’s sentencing was postponed repeatedly while social services reports were prepared for each of her children. When the moment finally arrived, Lynne disclosed she had been keenly awaiting her daughter facing the justice she merited.
“I was looking forward to the court date,” she said. “Michelle was going to get her just desserts. If she was locked up, even just for one day and night, it might be enough. She would see what it’s like.
“But it didn’t work out like that… Now, she’s laughing. She’s a greedy woman. She cares for no one but herself.” Tarnya also disclosed that she had heard Michelle was seen laughing while getting a tattoo in Clacton the day after her sentencing. She suspects her sister intentionally delayed changing her plea until their mother’s death was imminent, thinking she could evade justice without their mum alive to dispute her account.
“It’s all the lies,” Tarnya stated. “If you’ve done something, own up to it. Don’t use your children to get out of it, which is what she did. I wanted her to realise what she had done to our mum was wrong, but even the judge said she hadn’t shown any remorse.
“Now she could do this again, to an elderly neighbour or something. If you can do it to your own mum, you can do it to anyone. You shouldn’t do what Michelle did to anyone, but to do it to your own mother?
“That makes you the lowest of the low – and she hasn’t even been punished for it. Michelle is evil, disgusting… lower than low. The rest of us have stuck together, but no one wants anything to do with her. Mum has lost her grandchildren as well. It has broken the family apart.”
Tarnya says she’s now settled all her mum’s ‘astronomical’ debts, with the family currently planning to redecorate her flat in Clacton. Yet despite trying to move on, Lynne says she can never forget what one of her own daughters did to ruin her life.
“I will never forgive Michelle for what she’s done,” Lynne declared. “I don’t even want her to know when I die. I don’t want her at my funeral.”
Judge Jamie Sawyer gave Michelle Moore a two-year suspended prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation on the day of her trial in September last year. He also instructed her to complete 150 hours of community service and pay £1,000 in compensation to her mother, while recognising that this was a ‘drop in the ocean’ compared to what she had stolen. Michelle was further slapped with a restraining order, prohibiting her from making any contact with her mother Lynne or sister Tarnya.
