South Tyneside woman admits to defrauding her mum and gran of more than £5,000 in a revenge plot

Amy Ord, 33, of Chaucer Avenue, Biddick Hall, committed eight crimes against them due to an alleged historic misdeed against her.

Ord began her offending on February 8, 2018, and only ended her spree in July 2020 when police became involved.

At the borough’s magistrates’ court, she pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud by false representation, of which six were against her estranged mother.

For her first crime, she obtained goods and services totalling £2,634 by opening a BT account in her gran’s name.

And she defrauded her elderly relative a second time by repeating the trick with the same phone firm to make a gain of £762, between July 17 and November 13, 2018.

The offences against her mum used the same modus operandi and started with a £219 fraud via a Virgin Media account, between April 10 and August 19, 2018.

She next struck between May 27, 2018, and January 16, 2019, by opening a Talk Talk account, racking up a bill of £527.

Ord also made a gain of £463 between October 10, 2018, and February 1, 2019, by signing up with Vodafone.

And she again used her mum’s identity to open an Ikano bank account on December 17, 2018, leading to £92 bill by May 14, 2019.

And she racked up bills of £191 and £175 by opening two accounts with retailer JD Williams, between December 18, 2018, and July 25, 2019.

Prosecutor Rehana Haque said: “The subjects of the offences are her grandmother and mother. She is estranged from them.”

In a victim statement, Ord’s grandmother said she felt “betrayed” and hoped her granddaughter was “proud” of her actions.

Her mum said she had fallen out with Ord “several years ago but never thought she would do something like this”.

She said the fraud had caused her to have to pay an extra £5,000 to get a better mortgage deal, money which was meant for her son.

Jason Smith, defending, said Ord, who has no previous convictions, targeted her relatives due to a previous issue with them.

He added: “There’s huge background in this case, one that the crown has not taken into account. It’s a kind of retaliation.

“She accepts it was wrong. The loss was not the intention, it was that ‘you’ve caused me harm all those years, this is my moment’.”

District Judge Zoe Passfield adjourned the case for reports and granted Ord unconditional bail to be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, May 30.

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