A judge has hit out at Labour’s ‘soft justice’ sentencing reforms after he was forced to spare an account manager prison despite her plundering tens of thousands of pounds from her dementia-stricken mother.

‘Cruel’ Catherine Barningham, 49, blew more than £43,000 on foreign holidays, an Alsatian puppy, luxury cars and a mobile phone contract after taking control of vulnerable 78-year-old Elizabeth Smith's affairs.

Under her role as lasting power of attorney, she also handled the sale of Ms Smith’s home for just £40,000 – despite it being worth almost three times as much, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Sentencing her on Tuesday, Judge Robin Mairs described the case as a 'despicable abuse of trust' and Barningham, of Goole, East Yorks, as 'a thief who steals from her own mother.’

But he said he was 'compelled, with much reservation' to suspend an immediate prison sentence under reforms enacted by Labour this year.

Handing her a three-year suspended sentence after she admitted fraud by abuse of position and acquiring criminal property, Judge Mairs said: 'There are many who would rightly say this is a lenient sentence, and indeed it is.

'If it were not for the compulsion of the Community and Custodial Guidelines, it would not be imposed. But it is a single opportunity only. Breach it and you will go to prison.’

He added: ‘You have a good job. You have a job which could have funded your lifestyle. You did not need to steal from your mother. It was your greed which made you do so.'

Under the reforms introduced in April designed to free up space in jails, custodial sentences of up to three years can now be suspended rather than served immediately. 

Previously, only custodial sentences of up to two years were considered for suspension.

When she was released on Tuesday, Barningham was seen visiting a shop close to her home where she purchased a bottle of wine, cigarettes and a bouquet of flowers.  

Courts must now consider factors including rehabilitation, risk of harm, and the effect immediate custody would have on dependants before deciding whether an immediate prison sentence should be imposed.

The justice reforms have also seen tens of thousands of prisoners freed from jail early to free up space after justice secretary Shabana Mahmood announced they could be released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence.

The court heard Mrs Smith appointed Barningham, who earns £59,000-a-year working for manufacturing giant 3M, to oversee her finances in 2015.

She was later moved into a care home in Lincoln when her condition deteriorated.

While the widow believed she had 'significant savings', her son Michael Hart later discovered her account was £1,600 overdrawn.

Care home staff described how Mrs Smith often had very little cash for her own needs, while Barningham enjoyed foreign holidays, a new house and drove a BMW or Mercedes.

One care home worker even noted that Mrs Smith liked a particular brand of salted crisps yet Barningham refused to buy them because they were 'too expensive'.

Financial investigations revealed that she had spent £43,130 of her mother's money on herself, including £4,118 spent on an O2 phone contract, £3,850.48 with travel firm TUI and £12,559 on 'unexplained transactions' and cash withdrawals.

Judge Mairs told her: 'You had milked your mother as much as you could and only renounced power of attorney when the game was up. It is difficult to think of greater dishonesty or a more despicable abuse of trust.'

When arrested in December 2024, Barningham admitted using her mother’s account 'as if it were her own' and described the errors as honest mistakes.

The mother-of-one later claimed she had financial pressures, including debt consolidation issues and gambling debts.