A DEESIDE man used a dead woman's stolen bank card to buy a succession of scratch cards.

Shaun Lee Mitchell, 32, had denied handling the late Pamela Billington's NatWest debit card after it had been stolen from her house along with her mobile phone while she was in hospital prior to her death.

But at a trial at Flintshire Magistrates Court Mitchell, 32, was found guilty of using the later Mrs Billington's card on three separate occasions to buy scratch cards worth £80 and two bottles of Fanta.

The Mold court heard Mrs Billington had died on May 4, 2017 and when her daughter visited the property afterwards she found it had been burgled and her mother's mobile phone and debit card were missing.

Soon afterwards she had checked her dead mother's account and found that the card had been used in Connah's Quay and Shotton several times on May 7.

Officers investigated and found the card had been used in the One Stop Community Store on High Street, Connah's Quay, with CCTV showing Mitchell buying four £5 scratchcards and two bottles of Fanta.

Mitchell, who was accompanied by a friend, Michael Griffiths, was then seen on CCTV going into Not Just A Newsagent on Chester Road, Shotton, where he purchased six scratchcards worth £30.

Further CCTV viewed by the court then showed the card being handed to Mr Griffiths who went into the same shop and bought the same amount of cards.

The court heard statements from staff at the shops identifying Mitchell and confirming he had made the purchases with Mrs Billington's card.

Mitchell, of Cestrian Street, Connah's Quay, was arrested on June 19 last year and in interview he told officers he had no idea that the card was stolen as he had been handed it by his friend Shane Almond who had asked him to but the scratchcards for him.

He also denied the burglary and told officers he was an unemployed engineer who did not go out much and lived alone.

Under examination from Brian Cross, defending, Mitchell said he was hoping to do voluntary work with the elderly.

"If I found out someone was using my deceased mother's card I would hit the roof," he said, before adding he and Mr Almond lived near to each other and had become friends.

On the day of the incident Mitchell said Almond had visited his flat and had not looked well and asked his friend to go to the shops for him and handed him the card.

"He wasn't asking me to buy a TV and video so I had no reason to think it was stolen," said Mitchell. "I thought I was helping the guy."

Rhian Jones, prosecuting, told father-of-two Mitchell it was "a bit of a coincidence" that he used a contactless card with a limit of £30 to make purchases of the same amount.

"I assure you I was going to give all the items back to Mr Almond," added Mitchell.

Finding Mitchell guilty of one count of handling stolen goods and three of fraud by false representation, magistrates' chairman Geoff Bull said: "We think it is inconceivable that any rational person would make these purchases with someone else's card and then pass it onto a third party."

Mitchell was fined £95 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30 along with prosecution costs of £620.