A Milford Haven man, jailed after draining nearly £25,000 from a widow’s bank account, has been ordered to repay just £20 after serving three months behind bars.

Andrew Clive Baldry, of Hawthorn Path, The Mount Estate, was sentenced to a year in prison when he appeared at Swansea crown court in January.

Baldry, 30, initially claimed he had struck lucky on a scratch card after he fraudulently transferred £24,668.53 from his partner’s bank account, between July 30, 2017 and June 12, 2019.

He pleaded guilty to committing fraud by dishonestly making a false representation.

A court previously heard the victim had been left money from her late husband’s life insurance after he died in December 2013.

Years later she became involved with Baldry, who 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.

She believed they had a trusting relationship until she noticed her account had dropped to £20, and discovered £24,668.58 had been transferred to an unknown account over two years.

The fraud had gone unnoticed as the savings account was not regularly used by the victim.

During January’s hearing, Judge Walters stated the money in the account was intended to guarantee the woman's future.

But in 2017 she began a relationship with Baldry.

However, added the judge, they had never lived together and during their relationship Baldry had been seeing another woman.

Unemployed Baldry began transferring money from the victim’s account almost immediately.

In an impact statement read to the court the victim said she "could never explain how devastated I am."

Judge Walters said Baldry’s offending had been “tremendously mean and cruel.”

The case returned to Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday, April 22, for a Proceeds of Crime hearing.

A confiscation order was made for £20 after the court heard that Baldry now only had that amount in available assets.