Sometimes words fail you….
Uncle of meningitis amputee toddler stole £315,000 from her trust fund to pay for holidays… leaving just £239
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:34 PM on 26th November 2009
Ellie Challis lost her arms and legs after contracting meningitis aged just 16 months.
Amputee Ellie Challis
The uncle of a little girl who lost her arms and legs to meningitis has been jailed for four years for stealing £315,000 from her trust fund.
Darren Pease was made a trustee of five-year-old Ellie May Challis’s account after well-wishes from across the country donated hundreds of thousands of pounds.
But the 33-year-old City banker siphoned off £315,000 to pay for jewellery and expensive holidays in a bid to save his failing marriage.
Pease initially took some money from the trust fund to pay a credit card bill and intended to repay the cash but his stealing spiralled out of control, Basildon Crown Court heard.
Richard Merz, prosecuting, said the risk manager for Lloyds bank helped himself to Ellie May’s money between 2005 and 2008 until he turned himself into police in June this year after the family discovered there was only £239 left in the fund.
The court also heard Pease, a father-of-two from Dagenham, Essex, had taken £65,000 from the life savings of his grandmother, Joyce Pease, who lives in sheltered accommodation.
Judge Ian Graham sentencing described the crimes as a ‘repugnant’ breach of trust of his family and also all the well-wishers who had donated money to help make Ellie May’s life more comfortable.
He said: ‘The fact that you have then moved on to your own grandmother is almost like the punchline from some gruesome joke’.
Pease pleaded guilty to 18 counts of committing fraud while in a position of trust and obtaining property by deception and asked for another 31 offences to be taken into consideration at an early hearing.
Jailed: Pease pleaded guilty to 18 counts of deception
He was one of only two trustees entrusted with access to cash in Ellie May’s account. The bank has since refunded the entire amount back to Ellie May’s family.
Gregory Fishwick, mitigating aid Pease was genuinely remorseful, his marriage had broken down, he had been physically and verbally attacked and made an attempt to take his life.
Ellie May, who lives with her parents Paul and Lisa, sister Tai-la, nine, left, brother, Conner, 10, and twin sister Sophie, was just 16 months old when she was rushed to Oldchurch Hospital in Romford with meningitis.
Doctors battled to save her life as septicaemia caused her system to shut down and stop the blood flow to her legs.
She was quickly moved to St Mary’s Hospital in London where medics feared she would not make it through the night.
Ellie May survived but the blood infection spread and the family were told she would lose all her limbs – six weeks later, she underwent a six-hour operation to amputate her arms and legs.
Originally fitted with unsuitable NHS legs, her family raised £20,000 from donations to buy her private ones and last year the youngster was able to walk to her first day at school.
Ellie May’s mother Lisa, 36, from Clacton, Essex, said her brother-in-law deserved longer in prison as his stealing meant she could not buy Ellie may a motorised wheelchair for a beach trip.
She said: ‘This man robbed my little girl’s legs. She was devastated when she could not go on the sand with the other kids. I was disgusted with the sentence.
‘She adored Darren. He’s a big man and he used to wrap his arms around her and give her great big cuddles.
Darren Pease, Ellie's uncle
‘We’ve tried to shelter her from what has happened but she has overheard conversations and this morning she said to me ‘is Uncle Darren going to prison for stealing my money?’
She said the betrayal had devastated the whole family with her son Connor losing his hair through stress and had her put a strain on her relationship with her sister Jacqueline, 38, who is married to Pease.
Lewis Joiner, 65, who raised money for the trust through Benfleet Rotary Club said he was disgusted by Pease’s actions.
He said: ‘The club is totally shocked to hear about this. It’s very sad when someone takes advantage of a community’s goodwill. It is especially sad when a close family member of someone suffered so much does such a thing.’
(Thanks to Steve McNeice for sending this article)
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