Son jailed after stealing mother’s £7K savings that she hid under the FLOORBOARDS

A son who swiped £7,000 of his mother’s savings that she hid under her FLOORBOARDS has been jailed for nine months.

Mark Lacey, 42, went to her secret stash of cash under the floor at her home in Knowle West, Bristol, and helped himself to half of her nest egg.

His mother, Anna, told Bristol Crown Court she closed her £14,000 Lloyds TSB savings account in 2009.

She withdrew the money in plastic bags and wrapped it in tin foil before hiding it under wooden slats at the foot of her airing cupboard in her bedroom.

The court heard how Mrs Lacey would lend cash to her family – including her three sons – without disclosing the location of her stash and kept tally of how much was left.

But the mother-of-three discovered that half of her cash was gone in May last year – when Lacey was staying with her.

Sam Jones, prosecuting, said: “She called to her husband and Mark Lacey. Both came upstairs. Mrs Lacey confronted Mark and he denied taking it.”

Lacey, of Eastville, Bristol, was arrested and admitted borrowing money from his mum to visit massage parlours but denied stealing from his parents.

Police discovered his finger prints on a bank bag and tin foil and visited his home, where he directed them to £640 stored in a doll’s house.

He insisted the cash was his and said he would have stolen everything and worn latex gloves if he had wanted to steal from his parents.

But a jury dismissed his claims and found him guilty of theft after a trial at Bristol Crown Court in February.

Lacey was jailed for nine months and ordered to pay £640 compensation to his victim at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.