Woman says: Jail my grandson

From the Preston Citizen, first published Wednesday 4th Apr 2007.

A WOMAN whose grandson ran up a £1,300 internet gambling debt on her credit card has insisted that he should have been sent to prison.

Christine Pemberton spoke out after Lee Anthony Woods was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work and made subject to community supervision for 12 months.

He had pleaded guilty to three charges of theft and asked for five similar offences to be considered.

Mrs Pemberton, 54, only discovered her credit card had been used to bankroll a gambling spree when she received a late payment reminder for an account she had never used.

And after the case at Blackburn magistrates she said he should have been give a prison sentence to teach him a lesson.

She said: "I think he should have gone to jail for a bit to make him realise what he had done.

"I don't think this community service will make a blind bit of difference and in his mind he will think he got away with it.

"It is so disappointing because we have never had anyone in the family act like this."

Woods lived with his grandparents at Hacking Drive, Longridge, at the time of the offences but now lives at Chadderton Court, Preston.

His grandfather James Pemberton, 52, said: "He needs to pull himself together and get settled.

"He's only 18 so he's got a lot of time left to make something of himself."

Neil White, prosecuting, said when Mrs Pemberton received the late payment demand for a card she didn't use she immediately suspected her grandson.

"He had used his grandmother's card to gamble on a site called Jackpot Joy," said Mr White.

"Neither jackpot nor joy ensued and GE Money lost out to the tune of £1,320 which has been reimbursed to Mrs Pemberton."

Michael Blacklidge, defending, said, ironically, Woods introduction to gambling had come through his grandfather.

The two used to go to watch Preston North End together and on the way to the match they would stop at a betting shop and his grandfather would go in and make some bets on the football.

He had first started gambling on the internet when he was on a football-related site and a "pop up" advertised on-line roulette.

"Things snowballed from there," said Mr Blacklidge.

"He still meets his grandad before every match at Deepdale and they sit together but it is going to take a lot longer to get his grandma back on side."

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