A greedy niece who scammed her elderly aunt out of £115,000 will only have to pay back £10.

Yvonne Davies was jailed for two years and five months last September, with a Swindon judge accusing the mum-of-three of treating her 88-year-old aunt’s cash as her personal piggy bank.

She stole around £115,000 from her aunt between 2013 and 2016, with the fraud starting nine months after she had been appointed as a deputy responsible for safeguarding her relative’s affairs. She and her husband paid back £39,000 when the net began to close around them.

The 65-year-old had denied fraud by abuse of position, but was found guilty by a jury.

This week, Swindon Crown Court heard that prosecutors had pressed Wiltshire Police three times to look into what happened to around £70,000 paid by Davies’ husband into a son’s bank account.

The Crown, which pursued a Proceeds of Crime case against Davies, wanted to see if any money could be confiscated.

Rob Welling, for the Crown, said he had made enquiries of the police but without success. “Nothing has been done and I’m not going to press it any further.”

Judge Jason Taylor QC ruled that Davies had benefitted from her crimes to the tune of £75,051. However, such is the state of her finances and assets she can only afford to pay back £10.

Her barrister, Natalie McNamee, asked for three months for that to be paid as she is not expected to be released from prison until July at the earliest.

If she fails to pay the £10 she will serve seven days behind bars in default.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “The son’s bank account in question was examined by us and it was found that there were no realisable assets to put before the court as the money had already been spent.

“However, the court order does allow us to revisit the finances of Mrs Davies at any time should we become aware of any assets in the future.”

Last year, the court heard that Davies and her husband had transferred their aunt’s money into their accounts, stopping a small donation to the Dog’s Trust and birthday gifts of £5 to £10 to nieces and nephews while the Davies’ children were given large sums. The money went on renovating the Davies’ property, gifts and paying for meals out.

Judge Taylor said: “This was greed, pure and simple. Greed for yourself and greed for your immediate family over anyone else.”

Davies should have safeguarded Ms Owen’s affairs, he said. “You didn’t do that. Along with your husband you systematically set about using her money as your personal piggy bank.

“Whilst in a position of trust you used what you saw as an open cheque book to feather your nest, frittering away an inheritance of which you were not the only beneficiary.”

He added: “I am in no doubt I saw your true colours during the trial and you are not the victim you make yourself out to be. What I believe you have shown is self-pity.

“Old age and ill health don’t give you licence to break the law. Neither does it give you a get out of jail free card.”

Natalie McNamee, defending, said her client suffered from poor health had had been assessed as a potential suicide risk. “She is ashamed of what she’s done and she has said so on a number of occasions. She is desperately keen to protect her children from the consequences of all of this.”