'Friend' swindled life savings from pensioner
AN 88-year-old pensioner robbed of her life savings by a woman she considered her friend has said she has "lost all trust in mankind".
Joyce Porter, who is crippled with debilitating pains, was robbed of 12,500 by Maureen Mulligan.
Mulligan, 57, from the Peggy’s Loaning area of Banbridge, last week pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including one count of theft, six counts of money laundering and three of deception, dating from January 2004 until February 2007.
She walked away from Newry Crown Court with a one-year suspended jail term and a compensation order for 2,500.
Berkshire-born Ms Porter, who can only get around with the help of a walking aid, told the Banbridge Leader she came from Australia to live in the area in 1990 to “grow old” and live out the rest of her days in peace and tranquillity, but as a result of meeting Mulligan has “lost all trust in mankind”.
After befriending her neighbour Mulligan, Ms Porter said her life was turned upside down and she was plunged into some kind of a “living nightmare”.
Ms Porter, who has no surviving relatives, came to live at the Seventh Day Adventist house on the Newry Road in Banbridge in 1990.
There she met Mulligan who, she said, at the beginning, appeared to be “honest, helpful and very friendly”.
“Nothing was a bother for her. She was so good to me, running errands and taking me out and about. I trusted her and I liked her,” she said.
“If I heard a noise at 2am outside I would ring Maureen and she was right there. She appeared so nice and I depended on her.”
However, after some time, Ms Porter recalled how Mulligan approached her asking for bank account withdrawal vouchers.
Ms Porter said: “She was getting me errands up the town every couple of days so she came to me and asked me to give her a couple of vouchers, so it would save me giving her 10 here and 10 there. Being naive I never thought anything sinister would happen. I thought she was my friend helping me get a bit of shopping.”
As weeks turned to months, eventually the truth came out that Mulligan had been writing vouchers for her own gain, using two accounts belonging to Ms Porter.
Asked why it took so long for her to realise something was wrong, Ms Porter replied: “Mulligan was very clever, she deceived me. I was a vulnerable pensioner who trusted my friend.”
Speaking a short time after Mulligan pleaded guilty, Ms Porter said the conviction “means nothing to me”.
“I’m so sick now and frail. I am in constant agony so money is not important. I have nothing, I have no family and I have lost all trust in fellow mankind,” she said.
“Maureen Mulligan does not have a heart. What she did to me and the memories I have ruin my mood every day.”
Mulligan’s one-year jail term was suspended for three years and she was given six months to pay the compensation order.
A confiscation order was also imposed, meaning that if Mulligan comes into money in the future she can be pursued for further compensation.
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