Daughter who pocketed £3,500 donated for mother's funeral avoids jail

A jobless fraudster who set up a GoFundMe for her mother's funeral but trousered the proceeds has been spared jail.

Danielle Kelly, 28, pocketed around £3,500 of donations to help pay her 'rent, bills and living costs' instead of giving her deceased parent a send off, all while lying to her relatives about where the money had gone.

Kelly, from Stafford, even took a £1,000 donation from her own uncle, before contacting the council to say she needed help with the funeral costs.

After she pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, the judge said: 'It is difficult to think of how you could have acted in a worse way than you did.'

However, Kelly was handed a suspended 20-week sentence when she appeared at Cannock Magistrates' Court.

The court heard Kelly's mother died on May 9 last year and the fund-raising page was made on May 31. 

A month later, a woman made a £1,000 pledge to the account and her uncle also stumped up the same figure.

But in mid August 2023, Kelly contacted the council to say she was struggling financially and she needed help with the funeral costs despite 43 donations to the GoFundMe summing £1,450. 

On September 1, Kelly spoke to the coroner's officer to ask to have a council funeral.

Prosecutor Sara Beddow said: 'On September 22 it was confirmed she had made no contact with a funeral directors to pay for the funeral. It was paid for by Derbyshire Council.

'Enquiries with the bank confirmed her bank account was credited with £2,000 on June 30 last year. Her balance on August 3 was £134.

'She obtained £3,470 towards her mother's funeral costs but did not use the money for its intended purpose and requested that the council pay for it instead.'

In her police interview Kelly confirmed she received £2,000 from the two donors and said she spent it on 'rent, bills and living costs'.

Ms Beddow added there were claims for compensation from those two, as well as Derbyshire Council which paid £1,760.

Representing herself, Kelly said: 'I committed the offence due to the financial circumstances I was struggling with at the time. I feel really bad for doing so. I do regret what I did.' 

She added she is not working and has not repaid any of the cash.

District Judge Stephen Hayes sentenced Kelly to 20 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, with a rehabilitation activity requirement for 15 days and 140 hours unpaid work. 

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She was ordered to pay a total of £1,500 compensation - £500 to each of the three parties entitled to a payment. There was no order for costs.

The judge said it should have been an immediate jail sentence but he was prepared to suspend it because of the delay in the case coming to court. 

District Judge Hayes said: 'It is difficult to think of how you could have acted in a worse way than you did.

'Not only did you take advantage of the generosity of members of the public and close friends by way of a GoFundMe page but you also took the money from family members and outright lied to them about what the money had been spent on.

'You should be thoroughly ashamed of your actions. There was a huge element of breach of trust, not just with family members but members of the public and friends you asked for donations from.

'You asked for donations over a significant period of time and even lied to the funeral staff who waited for you to tell them what you wanted to do for your own mother's funeral. I genuinely find it difficult to comprehend how you could behave in that fashion.'