A WOMAN stripped her grandmother of her life savings of more than £140,000 and spent it on a car, holidays hotel stays and new clothes.

Katie Gosley-Shaw's four years of deceit and theft left great-grandmother Ruth Gosley, 89, so poor she could not afford to pay her heating bill, but the 38-year-old will now spend Christmas preparing for jail, York Crown Court heard. A judge called her actions mean and wicked.

Gosley-Shaw, a mother of two, was claiming state benefits while stealing the money. She bought a £21,000 car, foreign holidays, hotel stays and dresses, and ran several credit cards. She spent up to £200 a month on petrol and planned to buy a £540,000 house with her partner without using a mortgage.

She spent nearly £10,000 on a single transaction at Feversham Arms health spa in Helmsley, a jury was told.

Meanwhile, her grandmother was living without heating. Her home was so cold that police investigating the crimes had to keep his coat on when visiting the Tockwith pensioner.

Police and prosecutors put together what Judge Rodney Jameson QC called an "unanswerable" case against Gosley-Shaw, but she made her grandmother go through the ordeal of giving evidence against her by pleading not guilty to all charges.

Gosley-Shaw, of Prince Rupert Drive, Tockwith, and who used to work for a hair products company, showed no emotion as a jury convicted her unanimously of five counts of theft and two of fraud committed between 2009 and 2012.

Judge Jameson told her they were “serious, long, mean and wicked offences” for which she would receive “a significant prison sentence".

He adjourned sentence so that arrangements could be made to care for Gosley-Shaw’s children, and she was released on bail while probation officers prepare a report on her.

During her trial, the granddaughter claimed in the witness box that her grandmother had approved each and every transaction from which the younger woman had benefited, including giving her about £65,000 in a single “gift” by selling shares.

“She is a very, very kind and generous woman,” said the granddaughter.

According to Gosley-Shaw, Mrs Gosley also lent her money because she had financial problems following the break-up of her marriage and lived beyond her means.

“I had absolutely every intention of paying her back. I know how bad it looks, but I still do have every intention of paying it back,” she claimed.

She alleged Mrs Gosley had forgotten their many conversations about the money and had personally telephoned her bank on many occasions to transfer money.

But the grandmother told the jury she never used telephone banking and denied approving any of the transactions.

The granddaughter also claimed the house purchase would be partially financed through money her partner was to get through a separate house sale.

The Feversham Arms transaction was for a works function for which she became liable through a mistake of hers, she claimed.

She will be sentenced on January 14.