A LODGER who spent his landlady’s money in Northwich has been spared jail.

Dylan Wilkinson, 22, from Ellesmere Port, went on a hotel, pizza and sweets spending spree using cards he had stolen.

The McDonalds Cheshire Oaks worker also tried to buy other items including three mobile phones worth almost £1,000 but the transactions were declined.

Chester Magistrates Court heard that he had lived with Jeanette Evans for a number of weeks, and she considered him a ‘lovely young man’.

But on March 25 he betrayed her trust by trousering two of her bank cards and memorising the details of a third, which he used to book himself into a hotel.

He then moved between Ellesmere Port and Northwich using the cards to buy confectionary, pizza, coffee, cigarettes, and more.

Eve Johnson, prosecuting, said Mrs Evans’ bank alerted her to pending transactions.

Wilkinson, of Denbigh Court, was sentenced to a 12-month community order to include 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 days’ rehabilitation activity. He was also ordered to pay Mrs Evans £150 in compensation, £85 court costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

Only £186 worth of transactions cleared, including £120 for the hotel.