A scheming daughter who emptied her mum's bank account has been ordered to pay back just £1 in court.
Susan Chiswell was in her mid-50s when her dad’s death sent her into a downward spiral and led to a nervous breakdown.
But her heartless daughter Joanne Chiswell put her in a residential home, took control of her finances, sold her house in Glenfield, Leicestershire, and all of her belongings.
Susan was devastated to even find her wedding jewellery had been taken, as well as precious photographs.
NHS psychiatric nurse Joanne spent the proceeds on shopping and meals out, as well as paying off her debts.
The mum has spoken to Leicestershire Live about how her daughter's crime has devastated her life.
After pleading guilty, judges decided to spare bankrupt Joanne jail, and ordered her to pay back just £1 – with the judge saying that "shame" would be the greatest punishment she would face.
Susan said: "I’ve cried so many tears that I don’t think I can cry any more.
“It’s torn the family apart and I’ve lost contact with two grandchildren as well as my daughter."
Joanne, 41, of Glenfield, who has spent all the proceeds from the house and has since been declared bankrupt, narrowly avoided prison after a judge at Leicester Crown Court took pity on her in July this year.
She had pleaded guilty to defrauding her mother of £90,457, between May 2012 and March 2015 but her lawyer told the court her abusive ex-partner had put her up to it.
Judge Nicholas Dean decided against imprisoning her and now, in view of her finances, she has been ordered to pay back the nominal sum of just £1 to her mum.
The judge, giving her an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, said he doubted the story about her ex.
He told her: "I'm not sure I entirely accept he's the wicked individual in all of this, but there may have been some pressure.
"I'm hesitating because you deserve to go to prison."
Speaking from her small, one-bedroom flat, a sheltered housing block in Melton, Susan, now 68, said she could barely believe everything that had happened to her in the past decade.
She said: “Because she’s spent all the money I don’t know if I’ll ever leave here – I’m only 68 and I’d love to be able to live in a house or a bungalow where I could have a cat but I can’t do much with £1 so I suppose I will have to stay here forever.
“I’m going to put the £1 towards my donation to the Poppy Appeal this year.”
Her previous homes in the past 11 years included mental health units and the Hunter’s Lodge residential care home in Melton.
She said: “It’s been 11 years since I’ve been in my house. I lived in Glenfield but as well as selling the house, Joanne got rid of everything inside it.
“She sold all my wedding jewellery, my mum’s rings and my photos and everything else has gone. Everything I ever had.”
Looking to her window sill where there are two small photographs of her parents, she said: “They are the only ones I have left now.
“That’s all I have. They’re from a small photo album I had with me.”
As well as many things of sentimental value, the items that disappeared from her home included her passport, driving licence and birth certificate, meaning she’s struggled to open a new bank account and Leicestershire County Council is still in control of what money she has.
Describing how the problems began, Susan said: “When my father died I had a nervous breakdown and I had a drinking problem.
"It all went to pot and Joanne decided I would be better off in a care home.
“She never thought I’d recover.
“For five years I had to share a room. I had no contact with friends so at the care home I volunteered to sit downstairs with the visitors book just so I could get to speak to people.
“Then one day at Hunter’s Lodge the manager said, ‘I’ve got news for you, she’s sold your house’.
“It was awful.”
The one good thing remaining in Susan’s life through these years has been her son Mark, who is an older half-brother to Joanne and had been kept in the dark throughout Joanne’s offending and called the police when he found out the house had been sold.
Susan said: “Mark was under the impression they were going to rent it out until I got better and could move back in.
“I feel so lucky to have Mark and his wife and three children in my life still.
"If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have any furniture here. I don't know what I would have done without them.
“I’ve now got my Alzheimer’s diagnosis removed from my medical records and my friends come to visit me again, too.”
After everything she has been through, Susan has no interest in seeing her daughter again.
She said: “If she comes here she won’t get in.
“When my friends hear about what she’s done they can’t believe it’s true. They can’t believe what she’s done.”
She said she hoped Joanne would lose her job with the NHS after the way she had defrauded her own mother.
She said: “She can’t go into the community with elderly people."
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