A COUPLE who failed to declare £210,000 which should have gone to pay for nursing care have each been sentenced to two years in prison.

Elizabeth and Peter Ridd were found by City of York Council’s fraud and adult social care officers to have failed to declare the funds, which should have gone towards Mrs Ridd’s mother’s nursing care, which the council was paying for.

Mrs Ridd, 65, and her 68-year-old husband had power of attorney for her mother, who lives at a private nursing home paid for by the council.

The payments were made on the understanding that when the mother’s home was sold, profits from it would repay the council and, depending on any remaining surplus, would continue to fund her care. The couple sold Mrs Ridd’s mother’s house in York Road, Strensall, in January 2015 for £216,000, and by the time the council discovered the sale, they had spent £160,000 of the funds.

North Yorkshire Police worked with the council’s income, adult safeguarding and fraud investigation teams, and the couple both pleaded guilty to offences of fraud by abuse of position.

The couple, from Long Street, Thirsk, were sentenced to two years in prison by Teesside Crown Court on Friday, January 19, and the Crown Prosecution Service is planning to recover the stolen money. Anyone with any information on fraudulent activity can phone the fraud hotline on 0800 9179 247.