A WOMAN who set up a fundraising page to help a terminally ill child used the cash to fund her gambling habit.

Sharlene McNeilly, 30, offered to create the Go Fund Me account for family friend Alexander Kyrillou after his nine-year-old son Oliver was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Simon Edwards said the page received more than £2,000 in donations from friends and family, intended to help Oliver fulfil his dreams during his last few weeks.

Mr Kyrillou had sold his new business to spend more time looking after his son.

But whenever he asked about the money McNeilly fobbed him off, while she frittered the money away on online slot machines.

Her crimes, which she claims are due to her gambling addiction, even continued after Oliver’s death in February last year, as his family desperately tried to contact her for help meeting the funeral costs.

At court yesterday, a tearful Mr Kyrillou spoke about how the “betrayal” had devastated his family when they were at their most vulnerable.

“She lied, she lied to us and betrayed us,” he said.

“I had to explain to people their kind and generous donations had been stolen. It made me feel extremely guilty as well.

“However, the most upsetting thing for me is that every time I think of my son it is tainted by what Sharlene has done.”

The court heard she was caught after she told an increasingly suspicious Mr Kyrillou that Go Fund Me was preventing the transfer. He called the firm and learned she had emptied the account.

In his victim statement, he said he had seen McNeilly posting about expensive gifts on social media and learned she was planning her wedding, which took place in February this year.

The court heard in mitigation that McNeilly was the sole carer for her husband, who has a personality disorder, and for her three children aged 10, two and 10 months.

Such was her addiction to the “Gala” gambling website, her counsel Rufus Taylor said, that she was scheduled to attend the first session of a gambling support course on the day of her sentencing.

“You will have seen from the report that she has been ostracised and estranged by her mother and her friends,” said Mr Taylor.

Sentencing McNeilly to 10 months in prison, Judge Jonathan Fuller QC said: “Mr Taylor suggests you started with the best intentions.

“I am very sceptical about that. They didn’t last particularly long.”

He said her actions were “as mean as offence as it is possible to get”.

McNeilly, of Monkswell Green, Christchurch, admitted one count of theft.

She will serve five months then be released on licence.

After the hearing, Mr Kyrillou, 32, and his wife Amy, 29, said they were “relieved” McNeilly had been sent to prison.

“It is not long enough but something is better than nothing,” said Mrs Kyrillou.

“I would like to think the best of her when she set it up, but I think she just saw it as a cash cow.”