Face of the Sheffield mum who stole £640k from vulnerable adults to fund lavish lifestyle including holidays to Dubai and New York

60-year-old Dianna Turner was jailed for seven years in 2019, after jurors found her guilty of defrauding 10 residents at the Glastonbury Guest House in Abbeyfield Road, Pitsmoor following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Turner, formerly of Wincobank Lane, Sheffield, was produced at court from prison on Monday, November 16 for a proceeds of crime (PoC) hearing.

PoCs hearings are used to determine which of a defendant’s assets have been gained through criminal conduct, as well as examining what can be repaid to their victims.

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Turner’s PoC proceedings had been delayed due to an unsuccessful appeal against her fraud convictions at the Court of Appeal and her going without legal representation in the run up to Monday’s hearing.

Judge Graham Reeds QC adjourned Turner’s PoC proceedings until July 13, when there will be a four-day hearing.

During last year’s sentencing hearing, the court heard how Turner was a manager at the Glastonbury Guest House and stole from people who needed to be in supported living due to suffering from learning difficulties; mental health problems and addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Prosecutor, Tom Storey, described how Turner stole their money through cash withdrawals and standing orders, over a nine-year period.

The mum-of-three was in receipt of benefits while she committed the offences, and did not pay tax on her £50,000 salary.

The court heard how she siphoned her victims’ money to fund a lavish lifestyle that saw her take expensive holidays to Dubai and New York; buy properties to rent out in Dubai and several high value cars including a Range Rover Evoque.

As he sent her to prison last year, Judge Graham Reeds QC calculated her annual income to be ‘the equivalent of someone with a gross salary not far short of £100,000 per year’.

He told her: “During that whole time you were paid generously as the manageress of the business...what you did in committing this fraud can only be explained by greed.”

Judge Reeds added: “Cynically, you abused your standing with the residents and your position of trust with them, and authority over them, to take as much of their money as you could for as long as you could. I am sure this was arrogance on your part. You decided they didn’t need the money as they were being well looked after at the home under your management, and that if they didn’t need the money you would take it.

“There can be no other sensible explanation for the systematic way in which the weekly and fortnightly payments to you, and withdrawals of cash correlated to the days upon which benefits were paid into the residents’ accounts.”

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