£44,500 shopaholic ruins her parents

AS devoted parents, Norman and Carol Bishop always tried to do the very best for their children.

They never imagined that the elder of their two daughters would take ruthless advantage of their generosity.

Not only did shopaholic Laura Goddard fail to repay her retired electrician father after persuading him to give her a £35,500 loan by remortgaging their home.

The 37-year-old also borrowed Mr Bishop's credit card and went on a £9,000 spending spree. As a result, the couple face having to sell their £250,000 home in Dorchester, Dorset, to pay off their debts or risk having it repossessed.

And Mr Bishop, 65, has had to come out of retirement and work 55 hours a week as a taxi driver.

Meanwhile, Laura has been ordered to pay compensation of just £1,400 after she was convicted of theft and fraud at Dorchester Crown Court. Her husband Steve had his previous home repossessed to cover debts she had run up. The couple, who have two children, are still together. The Bishops, who also have a 21-year-old daughter, Sophie, have now disowned their elder daughter who lives in Weymouth, Dorset.

Mrs Bishop said yesterday: 'Laura had a happy childhood. We don't understand where it all went wrong. We did the best we could for Laura, but it feels like she has betrayed us.

'The spending is like a drug. It's a terrible problem but she won't do anything about it.'

She said the problem surfaced ten years ago when Laura ordered £800 of goods from catalogues on her mother's credit card and never repaid the bill. Then, after the Bishops bought their home outright four years ago, she persuaded them to remortgage it in her father's name to raise a £35,500 loan for her.

They thought it was going to a mortgage for her own home, but have no idea what she did with it.

Mrs Bishop, 60, a carer, said Laura had not repaid a penny. Then in September 2003, she pleaded for more money and Mr Bishop reluctantly gave her his credit card. ' Norman told her to only withdraw £500,' she added.

The Bishops' credit card bill arrived to the tune of £9,000. Laura had bought new furniture, car tyres, toiletries, toys and made several large cash withdrawals.

She pleaded guilty to seven charges of theft, forgery and using a false instrument and asked for a further 112 offences to be taken into account. The judge ordered her to carry out a two-year rehabilitation order.

Mrs Bishop said: 'As the mortgage is in Norman's name, he is liable and we're being chased for £35,500. If we don't pay it in four years, the house will be repossessed. We just hope we can get everything solved.'