A WIFE left a court room in tears after her husband was jailed for stealing tens of thousands of pounds from his ‘vulnerable’ grandmother.

Winchester Crown Court heard on Friday that over a year-long period Wayne Gregory, who was said to describe himself as ‘scum’, stole more than £76,000 from his grandmother, who lives in Buckskin.

Prosecuting, Adrian Fleming told the court the defendant had access to four different accounts in his grandmother’s name – who is aged in her 70s and has dementia.

During the year-long timeframe from May 2015 to April 2016, Gregory stole £45,000, £20,000, £10,000 and £1,000 from each account respectively.

Mr Fleming said: “This is a clear case of exploitation - where he has been persistent in exploiting a vulnerable woman.”

The court heard at the time of the thefts, the defendant was going through “personal issues” and was heavily reliant on alcohol during “that time in his life”.

Defending Gregory, Daniel Chadwick, said that in the three years since he committed the offence his client had gone through rehabilitation and had “changed his life around.”

Mr Chadwick said: “This is truly a shameful crime and Mr Gregory, by his own admission, described himself as scum.

“However, he was in a very different place then to what he is now. He used to binge drink and was in very poor health.”

In sentencing, Judge Andrew Barnett said this was a “series of opportunistic” thefts.

Sentencing the Hinkley Close, Uxbridge, resident to 18 months in jail, Judge Barnett said: “You [Gregory] took advantage of the fact that you had access to these accounts and pilfered those accounts on a regular basis.

“People who steal commit an offence which is a breach of trust, and you broke the trust put in you by family members.

“It appears you spent most of the money on yourself and a lot of that was used for drink or other luxuries.”

As Gregory - wearing an electric blue suit - was sentenced by Judge Barnett, his wife left the court room, audibly sobbing.

The 30-year-old had pleaded guilty to four counts of theft at an earlier hearing.

Gregory was sentenced to 18 months in jail for each count to run concurrently.