Pensioner duped accident victim out of £12,000

A PENSIONER who betrayed his vulnerable young friend by fraudulently claiming over £12,000 in benefits in his name has avoided prison.

Peter Smith (69) previously pleaded guilty to fraud against Bury Council over 11 months. Smith had taken payments of £12,149.94 the council thought was going to Ashley Ashcroft from Failsworth, who was entitled to a personal assistant after suffering an accident brain injury almost a decade ago.

At Bolton Crown Court judge Peter Birkett QC sentenced Smith to three months in jail, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to repay £2,500 in compensation.

Speaking on behalf of the family afterwards, Mr Ashcroft’s mother Diane said: “This man came into our life and turned it upside down — he ripped Ashley off. We trusted him and this is how he repaid us.”

Smith met Mr Ashcroft when the pair worked in a pub. Ashley (27) was a kitchen porter and Smith a chef. When he was 19 in 2006, Mr Ashcroft was crossing Ashton Road East in Failsworth when he was struck by a car. Doctors feared he wouldn’t survive head trauma and fractures.

He moved back home and learned to walk and talk again, before moving back with Smith at his home in Bury. As he became more independent, in 2011 Bury Council funded Terry Rule — a friend of the defendant — to be Mr Ashcroft’s personal assistant. The money was paid into an account in Mr Ashcroft’s name, operated by his mother, Diane Ashcroft.

Prosecutor Amanda Johnson said Mr Ashcroft realised payments were going in and out of the account two years after Mr Rule had stopped acting has a helper. Smith had created a second account in Mr Ashcroft’s name and told the family the council had stopped paying the allowance. Smith had forged Mr Ashcroft’s name on cheques and falsified documents supposedly from Mrs Ashcroft, transferring responsibility of the account to the defendant.

Smith told Mr Rule he would put the allowance into his account so Mr Rule could withdraw the cash and give it to Smith.




He completely hoodwinked us - family

THE mother of Ashley Ashcroft is warning families to be more vigilant after their “friend’s” betrayal

Diane Ashcroft (48) of Cosgrove Crescent, Failsworth, is hoping the family can move on. She told the Chronicle how betrayed the family felt.

“It wasn’t all about the money,” said diane. “It was about the personal assistant Ashley needed. We trusted Smith and this is how he repaid us.

“Peter hid a lot of things from us. He said Ashley was cooking and shopping when he wasn’t. That’s the biggest letdown. Peter said he was doing fantastically well. He completely hoodwinked us.”