Latest news with #JessicaThomas
The Sun
27-06-2025
- The Sun
Mum was my best friend – until she stole my £50k inheritance and spent it hot tubs and holidays
TENDERLY cradling her two-month-old son, Gemma Thomas is filled with unconditional love. 'I look at his sweet face and I feel so protective towards him,' says Gemma, 26. 7 'I can't ever imagine doing anything that would ever hurt him.' It's an instinct that brings mixed emotions – because becoming a mum herself has made it all the more difficult for Gemma to understand her own mum's despicable actions. Earlier this month, Katherine Hill, 53, was jailed for 30 months for stealing £50,000 from Gemma and her younger sister, Jessica, 22, a nurse. The siblings had been left the money by their maternal grandmother Margaret, who died in her 70s in 2013. Katherine was a trustee of the cash, which was bequeathed on the condition that the girls could access it when they turned 25 or wanted to buy a house. It was only when Gemma asked to receive her share in 2018 in order to put a deposit down that she discovered her own mum had spent every single penny. 'I adored my mother, she was my best friend,' Gemma says. 'The betrayal of what she has done, especially now I am a mother myself, has devastated me. 'It has destroyed our relationship forever, she's never once said sorry. 'Mum was an only child and had a very difficult relationship with her own mother. They clashed and would go months without speaking. 'Mum always told me and Jessica how important it was to her that we were close and had no secrets. I confided in her about absolutely everything - even the first time I had sex as a teenager. 'I felt safe sharing everything with her. I trusted in her love completely.' But Gemma, from Port Talbot, South Wales, says her mum's behaviour changed dramatically when her grandmother died 12 years ago, around the same time she filed for divorce from her father, Christopher Thomas, 54, a train driver. 'Mum and Dad had been together since they were 17,' she says. 'Unwanted burden' 'She soon began to enjoy her freedom, going on dates all the time. At first it was fun having the house to ourselves but then she'd leave us for days on end. I was only 16 and Jessica was 12. I became my sister's surrogate mother. 'I asked Mum to stay at home with us sometimes but being with her boyfriend mattered more. Me and Jessica became like an unwanted burden to her.' Things came to a head when their dad became aware that the girls were being left and they went to live with him instead – an arrangement that exacerbated the tensions. 'She just didn't care if she saw us or not,' Gemma says. 7 7 'The rejection was so painful. It was as if she'd become a completely different person to the mum we'd loved so much. 'I remember at the school prom, everyone's mum was there apart from mine. It was really horrible, lots of people coming up to me asking where she was. 'Then it was Jessica's birthday and she came to see her but said she couldn't stop as she was going out with her boyfriend and his family.' With the divorce almost finalised, the sisters and their dad moved back into the marital home, while Katherine moved in with her boyfriend, Philip Lloyd, a window cleaner, 20 minutes away. 'I remember at court Mum fighting Dad for custody of our family dog, Oscar,' says Gemma. 'But she never fought for custody of us.' Looking back, Gemma recalls conversations with her mum about booking holidays abroad with her partner and a new hot tub she had bought. 'She even had a tummy tuck. 'I remember wondering how on earth she could afford it,' says Gemma. 'She had a job in customer services for Lloyds bank and didn't earn a huge amount. But she had also inherited around £40,000 from our grandmother so we didn't question it.' Then one day Gemma discovered her mum had blocked both of her daughters' phone numbers. 'I couldn't believe it,' she says. 'We had no idea why.' But Gemma needed to get in touch because, now 18 and working for an insurance company, she wanted access to her share of the inheritance to put down as a deposit for a house. 'I called her from my partner's phone because I was blocked,' she says. When she picked up, I said 'It's Gemma' and Mum said 'Who's Gemma?' She was so cold. 'TRUST YOUR TRUSTEES' By Alex Lloyd The lure of having access to money can be too much for some people entrusted with the inheritance of a minor. 'I have seen this happen before – and with hundreds of thousands of pounds,' says Jessica Partridge, head of tax and trusts at Mayo Wynne Baxter. 'Stealing in this way is not only a breach of trust on the civil side of the law, with the intended beneficiaries able to call the money back in, but a criminal matter too.' She advises anyone planning to bequeath money to a minor to be clear of the conditions in their will and think carefully about who will best manage it. 'You need to completely trust your trustees,' she says. 'If you think for a second they could go and spend it, even if they are the child's parent, but there is no one else to do the job, appoint a solicitor. 'If that isn't an option, pick another person you have faith in and be specific to whoever is drafting the will that it must not be discharged to the parents at any stage.' 'I asked her if I could have access to my inheritance early for the deposit on a house. Her voice changed completely and she started spluttering and told me it wasn't my money and that I was too young to buy a house anyway.' 'Too cowardly' Suspicious, Gemma managed to obtain a copy of her grandmother's will from the solicitor, who launched a civil investigation to track the money down. After a few months, the sisters discovered the terrible truth – their entire inheritance was gone. The police were called in and they questioned Katherine about the missing money. She denied stealing it, before outrageously claiming her father, Gerald Hill, 93, had been withdrawing it and putting envelopes through her daughters' letterbox – a story he backed up, saying it was to stop the girls 'harassing' her. The pair went on trial at Swansea Crown Court in April 2024, with Hill refusing to be cross-examined. 'She was too cowardly,' Gemma says. 'I had to stand up and testify against my own mother and she let me do it rather than admit what she had done. 'I was shaking terribly giving evidence, I felt so nervous. I thought: 'What if the jury believe her?'' The jury heard that Hill had been a trustee of the cash, along with her father. Once probate was complete in 2016, she put it into a Barclays Everyday Saver account in their joint names, despite being advised to invest it properly. The account allowed instant access and both she and her dad, who had been divorced from the girls' grandmother, had bank cards for it. 'Mum just sat there shaking her head, looking at me in disgust, as if she was the wronged party and I was the guilty one,' Gemma says. 'I've never felt so betrayed.' Bank statements proved that ten withdrawals drained the account between March 2016 and March 2017, including one for £15,000, others for £10,000 and a single transfer of £2,300 directly into Hill's account. 7 'Greed and spite' The cash withdrawals all took place at a branch just yards from where Hill worked. 'Mum even claimed she'd paid for an operation for our family's boxer dog which Jessica had agreed to, even though Jessica was only 12 at the time,' Gemma says. Hill swore in an affidavit that she had posted the full £50,000 cash through the girls' letterbox in an envelope – but the jury saw through her lies, finding her guilty of fraud by abuse of power. Her father was also convicted of the same crime, but lawyers and the judge stressed he had been a 'stooge'. 'Jess and I held hands and just sobbed when the verdict came back,' says Gemma. It meant so much to be heard and believed. 'Mum showed no emotion whatsoever. I had hoped for some repentance but there was none.' Hill, of Pontedawe, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while her father, from Swansea, was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. The judge, Recorder Greg Bull KC, described the defendants as 'thoroughly dishonest people'. He told Hill he was satisfied she was the instigator of the 'scam' who was 'so annoyed that your daughters received more money than you, that you took their inheritance'. 'You did it in greed and spite,' he said, adding she used the money 'as a weapon against your own daughters'. I can't imagine a more cynical breach of trust than this,' he concluded. At a later Proceeds of Crime hearing, earlier this month, it was calculated that the sum stolen would be now worth £65,000 with inflation. Hill was ordered to repay £50,000 within three months or face a further six-month jail time, while her father was ordered to pay £6,000 for his part or face three months inside. The deadline for payment is September and Gemma thinks they may get the money from her grandfather, as the court ensured he had capacity to pay before calculating his share. 'If he has to go to jail, I'll feel bad for him as he was manipulated by his daughter,' she says. Her mum is already out of prison, having been released on a tag part way into her sentence. Gemma does not know whether Hill will cough up or endure a second stint behind bars. 'She claims to have no assets and her boyfriend said she had not invested a penny in his house,' she says. 'But the judge was clear that at least £35,000 had been sunk into it from my mum over the years they have been together. 'She even built a bar in the garden and bought him a pool table. 'The right thing would be remortgaging to pay for it. I can't put into words the pain she has caused us,' Gemma says. 'You think if your mother doesn't love you, who will? 'I think what the judge said was right. She was jealous that we had been left part of what she thought was her money and also upset that we chose to live with dad instead. "It makes me sad that she was happy to put her 93-year-old father on the stand to testify but wouldn't be questioned herself. The poor man couldn't even articulate his words properly. It was pitiful. 'When I look at my son and feel so much love, I wonder how she could do this to her own flesh and blood? 'Her betrayal has left me with major trust issues in my relationships and I have a lot of social anxiety. I've needed counselling to cope with everything.' After all the heartache and lies, Gemma is now completely estranged from her mum and says she will never be allowed to meet her new grandson. She doubts they will ever see a penny of the money owed, the lack of which means both she and Jessica have to rent their homes as the cost of living makes it harder to save a deposit. 'The court case was more about the principle and getting justice than getting the money back, for us. 'Despite everything, Jessica and I are closer than ever and we are so grateful to our amazing dad. We couldn't have got through this without him,' she says. "But I don't think I will ever be able to forgive my mum. If I'm honest, in my heart, I no longer feel like I have a mum.' 7
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Our mum went to jail for stealing our inheritance
Two sisters whose mother went from being their best friend to stealing their £50,000 inheritance say they have been left feeling anxious and unable to trust anyone. Katherine Hill, 53, from Alltwen in Pontardawe, Neath Port Talbot, and her 93-year-old father Gerald Hill from Fairwood in Swansea were found guilty of fraud by abuse of power after a trial last year. They were sentenced to 30 months in prison and a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, respectively. On Monday, Hill was ordered to repay the money, which was left to her daughters Gemma and Jessica Thomas by their grandmother Margaret Hill. "I'll never have a relationship with my mother now," said Jessica. Swansea Crown Court previously heard, due to inflation, the sum stolen by the "greedy and spiteful" Hills was now worth about £65,000. Katherine Hill put the money in an instant access Barclays Everyday Saver account, despite being advised not to, and both she and her dad had cards to access it - draining the contents within a year. Between March 2016 and March 2017, the account where the money was held was emptied in 10 withdrawals, with £35,000 withdrawn in three transactions alone, the court heard. Scammers target widowed nan's loneliness - family Trio took more than £400,000 off vulnerable siblings 'I was conned out of my inheritance - by a friend' Gemma and Jessica grew up in Neath Port Talbot with their parents, and said Hill was a "good mother". "She was like my best friend", said Gemma, now 26, adding "no-one saw this coming". She said Hill did not have a good relationship with her own mother Margaret Hill - who split from her father when Hill was a teenager - though the girls did not know why. Margaret Hill died in 2014, while [Katherine] Hill was divorcing the girls' father, Chris Thomas. At the time Jessica was just 12 and not told about the inheritance, but Gemma, who was 15 "understood a little bit more". The £50,000 was placed in a trust fund with their mother as a trustee - to be accessed when they were 25. Following the divorce, the girls stayed living with their mother for about six months, but say she would often leave them alone for long periods of time while she visited her new boyfriend. "It would start where she was going on dates and stuff. And I think I was at that perfect age of 'my mother's going out for the night, I can have friends over', and I was kind of loving it for a while," said Gemma. "But it got to the point where it was happening every weekend and people expected that I wasn't going to have a parent at home, and I would be like, 'please will you stay home this one time?'." Mr Thomas decided his daughters would be better living with him, so the girls moved out of their family home and with him, while Hill moved in with her current partner, Phillip Lloyd. The sisters said their mum would sometimes take them out on a weekend, to a pub or McDonalds, but the conversation would often centre around their father and her upset that they left. "I think she just could never get over the fact that we were choosing to live with him over her," said Gemma. Jessica said it was "clear from then that we weren't really a very important thing to her". "I remember when she came to see me on my 13th birthday, and took me out for the day, saying she had to leave early because she was going out with [her boyfriend] and his family. "It wasn't like she'd spend a lot of money on us... not 50 grand's worth, anyway." They said, looking back, there were signs of extravagance from Hill and her partner, such as building a back garden pub and hot tub, and going on holidays. But nothing set off alarm bells, as Hill had also received her own money from her late mother. Now, the girls said, they know it was really them paying for their mum's lifestyle. It was when Gemma phoned her mum to ask about accessing the money early, as she planned to buy their childhood home from their dad, that the claims the inheritance never existed began. She said her mum told her "the money's not yours" and blocked her number, before later claiming in court it had been posted through the girls' letterboxes. Jessica, who is now a nurse, recalled the shock of discovering the money existed, and then immediately that it was gone. "How can you grieve something you never had? But [also] she's robbed me of an opportunity not a lot of people get." She and her boyfriend currently live with his parents, and she said saving up to move out without her inheritance would take a very long time. Gemma said she was angry, adding she found it frustrating the more time went on and the more Hill lied. She said the initial confusion and hurt was hard, given their happy memories of their mum, and the woman she saw in court did not seem like the same person. "I'd sit there and be like, 'What if we're all wrong? What if she hasn't done it?' "But I have to accept that she has." Gemma said giving evidence in court was stressful, but the relief came more from feeling validated, than from money or the sentences. "When it actually was the case that she was being sent down... it was like we were being told that we're not crazy," she said. The girls said they saw people on social media claiming they were in prison with their mum and she "was still saying that she was innocent". "And people would believe in her... that's the most shocking thing to me," said Jessica. "Even though the relationship had started to break down before this, it could have possibly been fixed, whereas we're at that point now that we'll never go back to how we used to be." She added their mum had "showed no remorse for anything she did". "She would look at me while we were standing up giving evidence, and she was shaking her head as if I was the one telling lies," she said. "It's like she'll never take responsibility for what she's done." Jessica said she had been going to counselling for many years, to address "massive issues with trust", while Gemma said she became "very needy in friendships". "[I thought] 'if my mother doesn't love me, who the hell is going to love me?'" Now a mother herself to a two-month-old boy, she said she saw the betrayal on a new level. "I came home [after court] on Monday and I was feeding my son. I was looking at him, and I was like, I could not go 10 days, not even 10 hours really, without knowing how he was or what was going on in his life. Never mind the past 10 years. "It doesn't make any sense, she's missing out on all of that." Jessica was still living and working in the same area as her mum brought her anxiety and she lived with a tic, which a doctor told her had been triggered by trauma. "The whole thing has just had a massive effect on me, mentally and physically." She added she did not know how they would have coped without each other, or their father, who supported them emotionally and financially through the long legal process. Now, with the result they wanted, they hope they will eventually see the money and "let go of this part of our lives". They say they want to forget their mother, and the end of court proceedings has brought a kind of closure, allowing them to "finally breathe". Mum must repay £50,000 she stole from daughters 'Spiteful' mum stole daughters' £50k inheritance Lives 'shattered' by scam builder as victims warn others
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Experts say more than 15,000 women will experience a perinatal mental health condition in N.C. each year
DUPLIN COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) — Jessica Thomas is a mom to three boys and spends her days in Kenansville. Each birth came with its own set of challenges. 'When you're in survival mode, the only thing that you're thinking about is just getting to the next day,' Thomas said. 'What I had a lot of trouble with was postpartum OCD, which are intrusive thoughts. They're very scary if you've ever experienced them, you know exactly what I'm talking about.' Postpartum OCD is just one type of perinatal mental health condition. About 15,000 North Carolina women will experience one every year and nearly 12,000 will go untreated, according to Mind the Gap North Carolina. Other conditions include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, panic disorders, PTSD and postpartum psychosis. Mental health conditions were the leading cause of death in pregnancy-related deaths from 2018-2019 in the state. 'During the birth of my third baby, I left the hospital with PTSD,' Thomas said. 'I didn't sign up for a war. I'm not in the military. I'm a mom.' Lack of care to treat these issues affects the entire state and especially in rural areas where even though some counties like Duplin aren't considered maternity care deserts, there are still gaps in education and few doctors. Groups like Mind the Gap North Carolina and March for Dimes are advocating in Raleigh to get funding to train more providers in perinatal mental health. Eighty counties in North Carolina have less than 50 percent workforce capacity and rural counties have an average of 33 percent. 'We're looking at trying to, at least, get one trained provider in each county,' Co-leader of Mind the Gap North Carolina Erin Crites said. 'Whether it's access through the health department, that some of the health departments have embedded behavioral health, or if we have somebody that's already a therapist there that can start to see those patients in the community.' They're also advocating for expanding coverage under Medicaid and insurance providers along with work paid leave. 'Moms exist on all party lines,' Crites said. 'This is just a mom issue and how can we take care of our future.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT.
