An ex-cop left his mother broke after she spent $15,154 on her credit card to gamble. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
A former Australian and British special forces soldier left his elderly mother broke in Eastleigh, UK, after a night of gambling with her credit card and drinking.
accepts that he gambled away the money out of boredom and alcohol.”
David Apps, 57, left Anne Bates penniless after spending a night on the town and racking up almost £12,000 ($15,154) on her card. Prosecutor Nicola Sully told Southampton Crown Court on Monday that Apps “acknowledged he gambled away the money out of boredom and alcohol”.
Apps, who was once a police officer in Australia, was visiting his mother in July when he gambled £11,900 ($15,027) through sportsbook Spreadex.
According to the Daily EchoApps is currently Director of Special Projects at the Government of the United Arab Emirates. Judge Nicholas Rowland questioned Apps’ need to steal from his mothergiven “his level of income.”
In a victim impact statement, Ms Bates said her son’s actions left her “financially vulnerable…unable to pay my bills and led me to put my apartment up for sale and move to Australia”. .
Ms. Bates continued that she couldn’t believe what Apps did to her and that she wanted him “to be held accountable, but he’s my son and I love him.”
Judge Rowland ordered Apps to pay 1,500 pounds ($1,895) a month to his mother and prove repayment of the entire amount of money he wasted before July 15. The judge also ordered Apps to pay “a significant additional sum to compensate Anne Bates for her psychological trauma and to provide evidence of continued counseling.”
