Champion bowler stole £161,000 from elderly parents
A BOWLING champion and 2014 Commonwealth Games baton bearer stole more than £61,000 from her elderly parents to fund her gambling addiction.
Bowler champion Michelle Cooper stole £161k from her parents
Michelle Cooper accessed passwords, account numbers and internet banking details to plunder the life-savings of her father, Alexander and mother, Maureen.
The 30-year-old faces jail after admitting the theft at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court yesterday.
Cooper, from Kilwinning in Ayrshire, a national level bowler who almost qualified for the 2014 Games and was named a baton bearer for the event, knew her father had a £100,000 inheritance in a bank account.
The 30-year-old faces jail after admitting the theft at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court
She advised her father that she had emptied all of his account
Mr Cooper, 77, gave his daughter access to the funds to repay a £8,000 debt but, after discovering her addiction and knowing that she had his account details, he wrote to the bank to cancel the account.
However, his bank persuaded him and his 71-year-old wife to keep the account open, the court was told.
Iain Gray, prosecuting, said: "On May 11, she advised her father that she had emptied all of his account." The couple went to the bank, not named in court and discovered £61,250 had vanished.
Mr Gray continued: "The accused and her mother attended Saltcoats police office, where she admitted what she had done and inquiries were made.
Cooper accessed passwords, account numbers and internet banking details
"The bank has since made a full repayment to the accused's parents."
Unemployed Cooper admitted stealing the money over nine days in May this year. Defence lawyer, James Irvine said: "Not only had the Coopers gone to the bank to close the account but they were persuaded out of doing so by the bank manager, who said this was not required.
"Clearly, they failed in a spectacular fashion."
Sheriff David Hall deferred sentence until next month for background reports and bail was continued.
Cooper is also awaiting sentence for assaulting her sister after bursting into her house following an argument over money.