Advertisement

Callous thief stole £4,500 from his own grandad to fund Ibiza trip

Brett Bridgen spent his ill gotten gains on a trip to Ibiza (SWNS/Getty)
Brett Bridgen spent his ill gotten gains on a trip to Ibiza (SWNS/Getty)

A thief who pilfered £4,500 from his grandad’s bank account and spent it on a holiday to Ibiza has been jailed.

Heartless Brett Bridgen, 24, used online banking to transfer cash to his own account the day before jetting off to the Spanish island.

Appearing at Liverpool Crown Court, Merseyside, last week, Bridgen was sentenced to 17 months behind bars.

The court heard the defendant, from Liverpool, was jailed in 2013 for stealing £50,000 from the same grandad.

Jailed: Brett Bridgen (SWNS)
Jailed: Brett Bridgen (SWNS)

Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, said Bridgen visited his grandad, who is now 73, at his home in Warrington, Cheshire, on April 24, 2016.

He asked for £20, saying he owed him a birthday gift and he was travelling to Ibiza the following day, it was heard.

Two days after transferring £20 the elderly man was contacted by the fraud action team.

Investigators found that thousands had been transferred between a savings account and a current account before being transferred to Bridgen’s bank account, without authorisation.

The court heard how his grandad, who hasn’t been named, struggles to sleep or trust people as a result of the ordeal.

It has also affected the relationship between him and his son, Bridgen’s dad, it was heard.

MORE: Alfie Lamb trial: Crushed toddler ‘was slapped and forced into footwell’
MORE: France’s Macron attacks Brexit and says it will end up ‘costing’ the British people

Judge Brian Cummings, sentencing, said: “This is the most personal kind of fraud.

“I am satisfied that this was an abuse of trust and deliberate targeting.

“It has caused serious detrimental impact on the victim. The glaring aggravating factor is that this is your second offence against him.”

Paul Wood, defending, described Bridgen as being at a low point in his life when he committed the fraud.

He was handed a 13-month sentence for fraud and a four-month sentence for committing an offence while on bail.

—Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK—