THE daughter whose £130,000 fraud ruined her parents’ dream retirement plans has been jailed for three years.

Melissa Humphreys, 33, sobbed in Chelmsford Crown Court while the extent of the pain she caused was revealed.

Between May 2006 and December 2010, she drained her parents’ savings and maxed out credit cards.

She was 21 at the time and used the funds to supplement her own income when her husband was made redundant.

Her parents, Elizabeth, 70, and Terence Fordham, 80, left their eldest daughter solely in charge of their finances while living in Spain.

To do so, they sold their £225,000 home, bought a motor home for £120,000, leaving them with £54,820 in a Halifax account.

A victim impact statement from Mr Fordham, read out in court, said: “What has happened has been life-changing for me.

“Not a day goes by without something triggering in my mind the emotions, which come back to me.

“Something as simple as the name ‘Melissa’ being mentioned on TV takes me back to those raw emotions.”

He added: “I love my daughter too much. She was my first born and the sun shone from her eyes to me.

“I don’t understand, to this day, why or how she did this to us... she’s let the whole family down.”

Her dad felt “as sick as a pig” when the magnitude of Humphreys’ crimes was revealed.

At the time she was training to be a financial advisor, which is why she was entrusted with their bank account and five other credit cards, to pay their monthly bills in the UK.

They now live solely on their pension payments.

Humphreys admitted four counts of fraud and one of theft.

Gazette:

Melissa Humphreys arriving at Chelmsford Crown Court this morning. Picture: John McLellan.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC said: “You reduced your parents, who left you in charge of their hard earned monies, to virtual penury.

“They had worked hard all their lives, they had saved, they had paid off all their debts and bought a motor home intending to travel, and ultimately retire in France. Their dream, after a lifetime of working hard.”

She added: “It’s not only the pain of you, who your father de scribed as his ‘beloved daughter’, doing this to them, it’s not losing all their money, it’s the agony of threats and the shame of being in debt as a result of other debts you ran up on credit cards.

“You’ve left them living in misery. Instead of enjoying their retirement, they’re left with nothing and are having to live in a motor home miles from their roots.”

She added: “I accept these matters have been hanging over your head for some five years or more, but the result of your offending will be hanging over your parents’ heads for the rest of their lives.

“All they’re left with is worry and concern and the pain of knowing what you’ve done to them.”

The fraud began to unravel in 2010 when the Fordhams offered to pay for youngest daughter Gail’s flights to Spain.

Humphreys, of Hutley Drive, Colchester, lied about transferring the money.

Matthew Bagnall, prosecuting, explained: “Gail was with her parents going shopping in Spain and couldn’t withdraw money.

“Mrs Fordham called Halifax who said their account was overdrawn.”

A Post Office credit card had also reached its limit and overall charges incurred were £15,000.

He added: “Her parents came home to resolve the issue but had to borrow £2,000 from Mrs Fordham’s sister to get back.

“They suspected their daughter, but wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

She has since being ostracised by her family.

Defence solicitor, Steven Levy, explained Humphreys’ spending began with small amounts before “spiralling out of control”.

He also elaborated on a string of disastrous relationships she had, all impacting her mental health as someone with borderline personality disorder.

He said: “She was entrusted with a great deal of money at 21. It’s clear the defendant was immature at the time.

“She got married young... all her life she’s tried to fit in and has struggled. Not that that’s an excuse but she used money as a mechanism to live other people’s lives, which she could clearly not afford.

“When I asked what she’d spent the money on, they’re all transient items.

“Struggling financially, that money was there. It was a snowball that kept rolling out of control and never stopped.

“It almost came as a relief to have this matter come to an end in 2010.”