A MAN from Penley who used his grandmother’s bank card to withdraw £1,160 has been told to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

Dane Walsh abused his relative’s trust to such an extent that she asked magistrates to impose a restraining order on him.

Walsh also stole cash and garden tools from his father, Alan Walsh, but the court heard he had forgiven his son and accompanied him to his hearing.

Walsh, 31, of Pendas Park, Penley admitted fraud by false representation between June 15 and 28 last year and two counts of theft, one on September 23 last year and the other between September 23 and 30 last year.

He appeared for sentencing at North East Wales Magistrates’ Court where Chairman of the bench Geoff Bull said Walsh would not get credit for pleading guilty on the day of a trial which had been due to start on August 8.

“The aggravating feature is the breach of trust of close members of your family and a vulnerable lady. The effect on your grandmother is profound,” he said.

Prosecutor Justin Espie said that Walsh’s grandmother, Grace Sidwell, took her grandson to a job centre appointment in Wrexham when he told her he needed her bank card as a form of identification

She became suspicious and when she checked she found money had been withdrawn from her account.

In a separate incident, his father noticed his wallet was missing and when he found it £205 had vanished. He challenged his son, but he denied taking the cash.

His father also realised hedge cutters were missing from his home in Pendas Park in Penley.

When he checked at a local store he learnt that a person calling himself Dale had been trying to sell them.

Andy Holliday, defending, said Walsh had been able to fund his addiction to crack cocaine through his work, but he lost his job as a chef at a hotel in Ellesmere when it closed.

“Since Christmas he has got himself clean of drugs,” said Mr Holliday.

Probation officer Andrew Connah said Walsh had reconciled his relationship with his father, but that was not the case with his grandmother who wanted a restraining order.

Magistrates told Walsh to pay a combined sum of £2,160 compensation to his relatives and imposed a five-year restraining order prohibiting contact with his grandmother.

He was also billed £440 costs and a victim surcharge of £85.