A Milford Haven man claimed he had struck lucky on a scratch card after transferring more than £24,000 from a widow's bank account.

Andrew Clive Baldry, of Hawthorn Path, The Mount Estate, pleaded guilty to committing fraud by dishonestly making a false representation when he appeared at Haverfordwest magistrates court on Tuesday, November 26.

The court heard that Baldry, 30, transferred money from a woman’s bank account to make a gain of £24,668.53, between July 30, 2017 and June 12, 2019.

Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard-Jones said Baldry had been in an on/off relationship with the complainant for seven years, but the pair had not lived together.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman stated she had been left a money from her late husband’s life insurance after he passed away in December 2013.

She said Baldry told her he had won £1,000 on a scratch card when he bought himself a car, and he suddenly began offering to pay for things, stating he had savings, when she had always paid previously.

The woman confided in a friend when she noticed her account had dropped to £20, and discovered that £24,668.58 had been transferred to an unknown account over the last two years.

Mr Pritchard-Jones added that the fraud had gone unnoticed as the savings account was not regularly used or monitored by the victim.

“She is very upset about this. She says she thought Andrew loved her and she was in a trusting relationship.”

Baldry was released on unconditional bail to appear at Swansea crown court on December 13.