Wigan teenagers preyed upon vulnerable autistic man and made him give them at least £1600

Rebecca Leyland, 19, and a 16-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, asked the man for money for clothes, alcohol and drugs.

He had initially sent cash after being told Leyland would need a wheelchair after an operation - something the hearing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court was told was not entirely true.

Tess Kenyon, prosecuting, said: “They appear to have preyed on his compassionate disposition.”

She told the court the 26-year-old man, who has autism and learning difficulties, befriended the girl on Facebook in April 2018.

The friendship continued on other social media platforms and that May she told him about Leyland, of Meadowvale Drive, Pemberton, who also started communicating with him.

Ms Kenyon said: “In May 2018 they began to build a deception. They told the victim that Rebecca needed an operation and would need a wheelchair. He sent cash to them in order to assist. There was no medical issue - that was false - and between May 2018 and January 2019 both girls made various requests for money from the victim.

“They tried to say it was for debts, cigarettes, drugs and the like. The victim refused to provide money for those. They then said it was for make-up, clothes and trips out and he gave money.”

She said the younger defendant had started “testing the water” after befriending the man and took advantage of him.

Ms Kenyon said: “He seemed to believe that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. She appears to have commented in response to support that assumption.”

The court heard that while Leyland did not specifically ask for money for the wheelchair, the pair did not return it and split it between them.

But they did then make requests for cash, with Leyland receiving between £600 and £700 and the girl getting £1,000 in total.

The teens, both of whom had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to committing fraud by false representation. This took place between April 10, 2018 and February 6, 2019 for the girl, while Leyland’s offending started on May 7, 2018.

Karen Moorfield, defending, said the girl’s parents would describe her as being “off the rails” at the time. She had been diagnosed with ADHD, was regularly going missing from home and police were being called.

She said: “She was using drugs and I think they felt that they were losing control of her.

“She doesn’t use this as an excuse, but she accepts that there were some drug debts and she owed money and there was some pressure. Initially there was the conversation with [the man] about whether he could give her money for alcohol and drugs. She accepts in her interview he made it clear he wouldn’t provide money for such things and then she came up with other reasons.”

She said the girl sometimes used Leyland’s account online and some requests for money appearing to be from Leyland were actually made by her.

Mrs Moorfield said: “I think the truth is both of them, in their naivety, originally felt that it was okay. I don’t believe they truly grasped the concept of how serious their behaviour was.”

She explained that Leyland has scoliosis and was advised by a doctor to have surgery to rectify curvature to her spine, which could possibly result in her needing a wheelchair. It was decided the operation will be done when she completes her university studies.

Mrs Moorfield said: “Although it wasn’t a complete fabrication, the two girls did take it to the extreme and made suggestions and made it appear to [the man] that the operation would take place imminently and would result in wheelchair use, rather than it being a possibility.”

Magistrates sentenced Leyland to a 12-month community order with 300 hours of unpaid work and told her to pay £600 compensation to the victim.

The girl was handed a 12-month referral order with several requirements, while her mother must pay £1,000 compensation.

Chairman of the bench said: “This was a very, very serious offence as far as the bench is concerned and we don’t feel any right-minded person would have taken such action. It’s very shameful to do so against a vulnerable victim.”

The magistrates ordered the forfeiture and destruction of two mobile phones belonging to the pair, which contained conversations with the man and information such as his bank account details.