Woman raised £3,500 for mother’s funeral then spent money on herself | UK News

A woman raised almost £3,500 for her mum’s funeral before pocketing much of it herself.

Danielle Kelly, 28, set up a GoFundMe page on May 31 last year and asked for donations to cover the costs of the funeral after the death of her mother on May 9.

On the page she told potential donors that her ‘loving, caring’ mum had requested a simple burial, but even a simple burial costs almost £2,000, which she said she didn’t have.

Her target was £2,500 and she raised £1,470 from 43 donors through the site.

She also received two additional donations of £1,000, one from a woman whose name wasn’t given and one from her uncle, Cannock Magistrates’ Court in Staffordshire heard.

All together she had raised £3,470 when she contacted the council mid-August to say she was struggling financially and needed help with funeral costs.

On September 22 it was confirmed that the funeral directors who carried out her mother’s funeral had not been paid, so the costs were covered by Derbyshire Council.

Kelly later admitted in a police interview she had spent the £2,000 on ‘rent, bills and living costs’.

It’s not clear if she spent the GoFundMe money, but it was never used for the funeral.

Prosecutor Sara Beddow said: ‘Enquiries with (Kelly’s) bank confirmed her bank account was credited with £2,000 on June 30 last year. Her balance on August 3 was £134.

‘She obtained £3,470 towards her mother’s funeral costs but did not use the money for its intended purpose and requested that the council pay for it instead.’

She was ordered to pay a total of £1,500 compensation – £500 to each of the three parties entitled to a payment. There was no order for costs.

The judge said it should have been an immediate jail sentence but he was prepared to suspend it because of the delay in the case coming to court.