A MOTHER-of-two has been described as evil by a judge as she was jailed for 25 years for the attempted murder of her sister whom she tried to burn alive in a “ruthless and breathtaking” bid to cover up the theft of nearly £140,000 from her family.

Cathy Bartlett, 30, was convicted at Winchester Crown Court following a four-week trial which heard that she passed herself off as a successful businesswoman while committing fraud against her sister Rachael to fund her luxury lifestyle.

The court heard Bartlett, from Fawley, Hampshire, set fire to her mother’s house in Bartley on April 7 to prevent the fraud she carried out while acting as financial adviser for Rachael, 34, from being discovered. She even gave her sister sleeping tablets and alcohol on the night of the arson attack in a bid to stop her waking up, the court heard.

A caravan where Rachael, 34, had previously been living was also burned down, killing her 14-year-old dog, Jade. That fire is also suspected by prosecutors to have been started by her sister.

Judge Jane Miller QC sentenced Bartlett for attempted murder, 10 counts of fraud totalling £96,000 and one of theft of £43,000 from her father, which she described as “wholesale dishonesty”.

She told the defendant: “Quite frankly you are evil. You accepted in your evidence your behaviour was cunning, calculating and devious. You were completely ruthless, you took as much as you possibly could from your sister and father.”

The court has heard the parents of the defendant and her sister had cut off ties with Rachael as they blamed her for supporting the prosecution of Bartlett.

Judge Miller said: “I feel very sorry for your parents in their awful situation. They have been supporting the wrong daughter, it’s Rachael that deserves their compassion and not you. I hope they will regret their behaviour towards her and she has the generosity to forgive them.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Rachael described how her sister’s actions had left her suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and had “ripped” their family apart.
She said: “Cathy was not only my sister but my best friend, someone I trusted and relied on. What she has done has ripped our family apart and has had a huge effect on all of us.

“I thought I trusted her and to find out our relationship was based on lies is devastating. The fact that she was then prepared to kill me to cover up her actions is so disturbing I still haven’t been able to come to terms with it.”

Kate Lewis, senior prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Wessex, said Bartlett was living a “fantasy of grandeur” by using stolen money to live a life of luxury. The trial was told that Rachael had offered her sister the job of financial manager at the company she had set up in 2014 but the defendant went on to steal more than £100,000 from both her and their father.