Man fleeced by fruit machine addict

Oct 10 2010 by Joanne Butcher, Sunday Sun

HE thought they would be together for the rest of their lives. But conniving Vicki Ashburn left boyfriend Glen Collis heartbroken after helping herself to £26,000 of his cash.

Today Glen, 29, tells of the devastation he felt when he uncovered her secret double life gambling on fruit machines.

“I was gobsmacked when I found out,” said Glen, who lives with his parents in North Seaton Road, Ashington. “I had no idea what she had been doing.

“As far as I was concerned, my bank balance was going up. She has stolen my future.”

Glen had been dating Ashburn, 31, for almost four years.

After he trusted her with bank details she emptied his account of the £16,000 he had saved.

Her crime only came to light when Glen checked his account late last year and was astonished to find he was £250 overdrawn.

Ashburn, of Broomlee, Ashington, could not bear to confess her theft to his face.

Fisherman Glen said: “She handed me a letter and told me to read it when she wasn’t there.

“It said she was sorry and explained what she had done. Then she handed herself in to the police. There must have been some remorse there for her to do that.

“I am not a nasty person and I don’t want to be bitter. But I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive her.

“I had thought we had a good relationship and I saw us being together for the rest of our lives. I had no idea about her gambling and I was devastated at what she had done.

“I find it hard to trust people now. The only people I really trust are my parents.”