A callous conman from Angus avoided a jail sentence for stealing almost £20,000 from his partner because it was his first offence.
Stonemason Carey Gibb’s partner was being taken into a care home near Arbroath so he ended their 20-year relationship but helped himself to her bank card.
He stole more than £10,000 in cash and spent thousands more, including 22 payments to escort website Midsummer.
He went back on a promise to pay the care home fees from her bank account, causing a £9,000 debt in missed payments.
Despite having been left £20,000 when her mother died, the 73-year-old was left with just £30 and her funeral plan had been unknowingly cancelled due to missed payments.
Gibb, 63, returned to Forfar Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to a year-long domestically-aggravated fraud, from August 2021.
His solicitor Nick Whelan explained the fraudster would be able to complete a restriction of liberty order.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown placed him on a 7pm-to-6am curfew for the next 10 months and two weeks.
She also made a non-harassment order, protecting Gibb’s victim from any contact for the next two years.
The sheriff Gibb, of Abbey Street, Arbroath: “This is a serious matter and often attracts a custodial sentence.
“This is your first offence, you’ve not previously served a custodial sentence.”
Sickening fraud
The court previously heard how Gibb acted as his partner’s carer and had access to her bank card and PIN.
When she moved into a care home, Gibb told her daughter he planned to break up because “they couldn’t have a proper relationship” and “he wanted to talk to girls”.
He said he would arrange the £600-a-month care home payments but his deceit became clear when the daughter began initiating power of attorney procedures and uncovered the shortfall.
She alerted social workers and a financial abuse probe revealed Gibb had been withdrawing up to £300 at a time and sometimes on consecutive days.
The court was told when his ex-partner found out, she was “extremely distressed”.
She repeatedly called Gibb a “monster” and had to be sedated.
The money had been used to pay for a Sky TV package and 22 payments to Midsummer, a “dating/escort” website – often at £250 a time.
The woman’s funeral plan with Sun Life had been frozen due to missed payments and had she died during Gibb’s offending, her policy would not have paid out.
Over the course of his con, Gibb only ever brought his victim one bottle of water, some chocolates and £45 worth of clothes.
She was left with just £30 in her account.
The defrauded sum was paid back by the victim’s bank, rather than Gibb.
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