‘Having a fantastic night’: Inside luxury holiday of shameless son who fleeced his parents for £117,000 and blew it on trip of champagne, first class flights and scantily clad dancers with his wife

• Gary Mansell and his second wife Diane defrauded his parents of £117,000 
• The pair from Merseyside boasted about their extravagant spending online  

A greedy husband and wife who cheated his elderly parents out of their £117,000 savings and left them with just 28p boasted their lavish lifestyle on Facebook.

Gary Mansell and his second wife Diane lived a comfortable lifestyle in an upmarket suburb, but dreamt of a living like millionaires.

After gaining control of the financial affairs of Fred and Enid Mansell through being awarded power of attorney, the ‘despicable’ couple set about ‘pillaging’ their savings, a judge said.

They under-sold the pensioners’ home by about £100,000 by selling it privately so they could get hands on the cash to pay for a lavish extension and kitchen.

And while they provided meagre ready meals for the elderly couple, who were living a totally isolated life in the annex, the couple enjoyed the high life on their money.

The couple outlined their extravagant spending in detail on social media, sharing photographs of steak dinners, first class airline cabins.  

Gary Mansell (left) and his second wife Diane (right) lived a comfortable lifestyle in an upmarket suburb, but dreamt of a living like millionaires

The couple took photographs in a range of luxury locations while living a lavish lifestyle at the expense of Mansell’s parents 

Gary Mansell (left) and Diane Mansell (right)) were both put behind bars by a judge for six years

Mrs Mansell (pictured) spent £9,000 on cosmetic dental work and bought three Chanel bags and one Louboutin bag

They had a 14-day £7,900 holiday in Jamaica, a £25,000 kitchen extension and a £4,000 holiday in Cape Verde, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

In addition, Mrs Mansell spent £9,000 on cosmetic dental work and bought three Chanel bags and one Louboutin bag, while her husband bought her a £3,800 diamond eternity ring.

They also had short stays in expensive hotels in York, and during one £600 two-day break they spent £245 on Jo Malone scents.

On social media they boasted about holidaying in the Caribbean, while Mrs Mansell showed off a new Land Rover Discovery with a personalised numberplate.

During the three-and-a-half years that the couple lived with Mansell and his wife, the sole holiday they had was two days in Llandudno, and they barely went out.

Tragically Enid Mansell has since died, while her husband felt he no longer wanted to live because of how their only child had betrayed them.

On Tuesday, a disgusted judge put them both behind bars for six years.

Judge David Swinnerton said they had carried out ‘the most despicable display of greed, vanity and selfishness so you could live a lifestyle well beyond your means’.

On social media they boasted about holidaying in the Caribbean, while Mrs Mansell showed off a new Land Rover Discovery with a personalised numberplate (pictured)

Facebook photos appear to shows personalised number plates on the cars of Gary Mansell and Diane Mansell – ‘Gaz and Di’

He said that they had ‘pillaged’ and ‘cleared out’ Mansell’s parents’ savings, using them as ‘a cash cow’ and leaving them with next to nothing.

‘You had a position of responsibility, power and trust – all of which was grossly breached by you,’ he added.

Mansell – who was appearing on his 61st birthday – had earned £95,000-a-year as a manager at the Jaguar Land Rover plant until he retired in 2019 with a £189,000 lump sum.

‘For many people that would be a decent income on which you could live a good life but it doesn’t appear to be enough for you and Diane,’ the judge said.

His 58-year-old wife, who drove a gold-coloured BMW with personalised plates, ran a curtain company until being made bankrupt.

In messages in 2016 it appeared they dreamt of becoming millionaires, the court heard.

The fraud began in 2017 when Fred Mansell – then 77 – suffered a fall and went into a rehabilitation unit.

His wife, then 75 and showing signs of dementia, moved in with his son and his wife in Woolton, Liverpool.

Gary and Diane Mansell (pictured) had married in Las Vegas in 2005 after he split from his first wife, with whom he had three children

In total, the greedy pair took £218,138 from Mansell’s parents, but after food and other costs were deducted, the fraud was valued at £117,000. Pictured: Diane Mansell

Gary and Diane Mansell had married in Las Vegas in 2005 after he split from his first wife, with whom he had three children.

The pensioners agreed to give them power of attorney and move into the couple’s detached home, with their own £255,000 property and cars sold.

‘Fred believed that his son and wife would look after him and Enid so that they didn’t have to go into a care home in their old age,’ said Charlotte Atherton, prosecuting.

Instead, she said, they ‘helped themselves’ to all of Fred and Enid’s money until they were ‘left with nothing themselves’.

Finally social workers became involved, and in 2001 the elderly parents were put in emergency care home accommodation.

In total, the greedy pair took £218,138 from Mansell’s parents, but after food and other costs were deducted, the fraud was valued at £117,000.

Giving evidence, Fred Mansell described the last few months of his wife’s life as ‘horrible and traumatic.’

The couple were convicted of fraud by abuse of position and money laundering after a trial last month.

Judge Swinnerton said the case showed how a family ‘could be destroyed by vanity and greed’.

‘You should both be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves,’ he added.

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