Olivia Crutchley conned her grandad for 18 months (Picture: Facebook)

A woman left her granddad penniless after she stole £75,000 from him – claiming she needed the money to sue B&Q.

Olivia Crutchley, from Orford, stole Rob Crutchley’s life-savings, cruelly conning him over the course of more than 18 months to fund her drug addiction.

The 23-year-old lied to her granddad, who she once described as her ‘best friend’ growing up, by claiming to work at the DIY giant – even saying she was promoted to assistant manager.

Crutchley even went so far as to fake emails from lawyers and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Rob took out two bank loans, borrowed money from family and friends and had to sell his car and personal possessions to pay what he thought were legal fees.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Rob, 79, has a ‘strong bond’ with his granddaughter after she spent periods living with him as a child.

At one point, Crutchley stole £10 from Rob’s wife’s purse, but their issues were resolved and he even helped pay her rent on her flat.

Crutchley then moved away to Malta before returning to Warrington, when she began to lie about where she worked.

She was sentenced to two years in prison at Liverpool Crown court (Picture: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

She claimed that she had been left out of pocket due to extra training as part of a new role which was not paid for by the company.

This apparently included travel and accommodation expenses for sessions in Southport, Birmingham and London.

Rob was forwarded mocked up emails from her supposed supervisor in relation to these costs and those of purchasing her uniform.

Between December 2020 and June 2022, he would receive around 140 such emails – with others coming from the likes of solicitors and citizens advice staff.

The trusting pensioner initially agreed to shell out £1,000 to cover these expenses.

Crutchley later informed him that she had stopped working for B&Q and had been in contact with the Citizens Advice Bureau over potential court proceedings.

In September 2021, she contacted Rob over WhatsApp with a screenshot of an email apparently from an employee of the organisation stating that she would need to make payments in order to start this process.

Crutchley lied about working at B&Q (Picture: Dave Rushen/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

This fictional correspondence with demands for money continued regularly, with other contact supposedly coming from lawyers seeking fees.

Excuses given included the solicitor working on her case suffering a ‘family emergency’, which meant that she needed to pay for a new legal team.

One such fake legal professional even began emailing Mr Crutchley directly. However, he became suspicious after one ‘unprofessional’ message in which a lawyer he had never met told him his daughter had died of cancer.

The victim also ‘found it strange’ that the email address was from an AOL account rather than having a professional company address. The solicitor also made no reference to being a part of any specific firm.

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Over the course of the scam, Mr Crutchley had transferred a total of £68,911.56 to his granddaughter and a further £6,057.30 to her partner. 

In a statement read to the court, Rob said how he and his wife are worried they will have to sell their house, and their retirement has been ruined.

He said: ‘We have worked so hard our whole lives, this is the time to enjoy ourselves. I am so ashamed that we have had to ask friends to borrow money. My wife can’t even afford a new pair of glasses she needs.

‘How do I get out of this situation? I have no idea why Olivia has done this to me after all the help I have given her over the years.

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‘This has turned my life upside down. I have no money to pay for mine or my wife’s funerals, should the worst happen to us.’

Crutchley, who has no previous convictions, admitted fraud during an earlier hearing.

She was jailed for two years as her girlfriend wept in the public gallery.

Sentencing, Recorder Graham Wells said: ‘I have to sentence you for an unpleasant, mean and destructive offence. It is a terrible offence.

‘You have destroyed your relationship, but you also destroyed the peace and quietness of his retirement. It was over a period of years, taking him for all he had and then some.’

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‘I have no idea why Olivia has done this to me after all the help I have given her over the years.’