Two women who swindled £600,000 from estates of grieving families sent to jail
Two women who stole over £600,000 from the estates of grieving Staffordshire families are getting their first taste of jail tonight.
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Laurna Porter, 69, befriended families whose finances she was entrusted with working for solicitors and then systematically swindled their assets so she could live the high life.
Porter used family friend Julie Atkins, 68, to help her launder the stolen money which she had plundered from 23 family estates over 13 years.
The pair were arrested at their home addresses in April 2018 and were finally sentenced today at Stafford Crown Court, sitting at Wolverhampton Crown Court, after a collapsed trial and second trial.
Porter, who wore a grey jacket and black blouse and blew kisses to her family from the dock, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering 18 months ago, whereas Atkins, who wore a leopard print sweater and bodywarmer, was found guilty of money laundering by a jury in February.
Judge John Edwards told the grey-haired bespectacled pair they acted out of "rank greed" and only custodial sentences could reflect their shocking crimes which rocked the town of Tamworth.
