A woman who ran up nearly £50,000 worth of debt in her partner’s name – nearly costing him his home- wept in the dock as she was jailed yesterday.
Pamela Milne forged Aberdeenshire man Allan Bartlett’s signature and applied for internet loans to secure credit in his name.
Her unsuspecting partner of four years only found out about her deception when a loan company called him up demanding repayment.
Her year-long deception was described as a “house of cards” in court yesterday as she took out extra loans to pay off interest on previous ones.
Milne, who was living with Mr Bartlett in Swan Road, Ellon, at the time, ran up so much debt Mr Bartlett effectively had his credit blacklisted – and faced the prospect of losing his home.
When Mr Bartlett discovered what she had been doing, he ended their relationship and called the police.
Milne sought sanctuary with her parents in Sussex, England who have since paid off the outstanding debt.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the 35-year-old started her credit spree in January 2010 when she secured a loan for £8,000 from the Co-operative Bank into a false joint account.
Her debts subsequently spiralled out of control and she applied for £10,000 more cash from Halifax and Lloyds TSB on March 25, 2010.
Another loan followed with a further £13,500 taken into the joint account which was granted to her via a forged signature from Mr Bartlett.
In December of the same year, Milne was granted another £18,442 from Link Loans Ltd.
Mr Bartlett continued his life with his partner at their home, unaware of the damage she was doing to his credit score.
In November 2011, the extent of the borrowing scam was revealed when Mr Bartlett received a phone call from Link Loans asking how he aimed to repay the debt.
He then terminated their relationship and informed police of the scheme.
The court heard that it was “very easy” to secure such loans online and that Mr Bartlett had ran up £1,000 in legal fees fighting the case.
Milne, of 27 Valley Drive, Newhaven, East Sussex, admitted obtaining £49,941 by fraud after pretending to be her ex-partner when she previously appeared in court in October.
But Milne’s defence argued that the first-time offender had been helpful to the police in their inquiries and all debts had now been paid off.
Defence agent Graeme Morrison said the sorry situation had “turned into a house of cards which crumbled beneath her” and that she was now working to pay off the debt to her parents.
But Sheriff Graeme Buchanan said: “it’s fraud on a scale that leaves little room for manoeuvre”, adding: “I have reached the conclusion that only a custodial sentence is appropriate”.
Taking into account her guilty plea, he sentenced her to 14 months behind bars.
Members of the public, believed to be Milne’s family, gasped as sentence was handed down and began crying.