A husband forged his disabled wife's signature so he could secretly remortgage their home and get his hands on £25,000.

A Carlisle Crown Court judge told 52-year-old Craig Studholme he had wiped out his now ex-wife's financial interest in their Wigton home, branding his actions "selfish, mean, and dishonest.”

Earlier, Studholme, of South End, Wigton, had admitted two frauds – each count representing an occasion when he forged his wife Alison's signature on mortgage application forms.

Andrew Ford, prosecuting, said the defendant and his wife married in 1999, and each had two children from previous relationships.

They bought their house in Beech Croft, Wigton, in 2003.

"That was the matrimonial home until they split in October 2015,” said Mr Ford. “The property was bought for £78,000 with a mortgage of £56,000.”

Sadly, within days of moving in, Alison Studholme was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer and she had radical surgery. Medical complications left her disabled and wheelchair-bound.

Mr Ford said: “Before this illness she was a strong, organised woman – a receptionist at a doctor's surgery. She was financially autonomous, in control of the family's banking.

"Following the illness, domestic duties fell on the defendant.

“This involved child care and running the home and finances.”

With his wife bed-ridden, Studholme took control of their finances, and the couple - unbeknown to Mrs Studholme - accrued five figure mortgage arrears, said Mr Ford.

One of the fraudulent remortgage applications netted Studholme £22,000 and the other brought in £3,000. After the couple split in 2015, Mrs Studholme's daughter found a large box of documents, including mortgage correspondence and unpaid bills.

“When Alison Studholme was shown the form [for the remortgage applications] she was visibly shocked,” said Mr Ford.

The defendant used the money he got to repay loans his wife knew nothing about.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Studholme, 47, said: “I blamed myself for it.

“It has taken a long time to stop doing that. I left my marriage with nothing. I had to borrow from other family members to get out of this. Before being disabled I looked after my own money.

"In the wake of this case I lost everything.”

That included friends, her self-esteem, and her independence, she said.

Claire Thomas, for Studholme, said that until his wife's illness the defendant had simply gone to work, providing for his family and paying his wages into his and his wife's joint bank account.

“His wife took responsibility for running the home and the family finances,” said the barrister. “Her health deteriorated very rapidly.

“He was left in effect to learn to look after the children, and learn to run the house. He fully accepts that he did an extremely poor job of that.

"That led to him taking out loans.”

The money was spent not on any lavish lifestyle but on providing for the family. He paid for a new patio so his wife could use her wheelchair outside.

Judge Peter Davies told the defendant that his victim – his wife for 16 years - had been vulnerable.

“You apparently mismanaged the household finances; and you apparently didn't know how to look after the children,” said the judge. “Well, you were in your forties, and you really ought to have known.

“It's not a good enough excuse – and certainly not a good enough excuse for forging a signature to get a mortgage loan to benefit you to the tune of £25,000. You used the loans for a patio and a car, without her knowledge.

“This extinguished all her financial interest in the matrimonial home.

“Selfish, mean, dishonest: those three words describe accurately what you have done. Her life has changed. Now she is dependent on the state... Shame on you, Mr Studholme.”

The judge said Studholme, who carried out the frauds in 2006 and 2008, deserved to go to jail immediately but he noted the defendant was a man of previous good character and, with him being in full-time work, there was a chance his former wife could get some money back.

Suspending a two year jail term for two years, the judge imposed a six month 10pm to 8am curfew and 250 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Davies allowed a third mortgage fraud allegation to lie on file.

He also told Studholme he must pay his victim £3,000 compensation and ruled that a Proceeds of Crime hearing – which will seek to claw back the rest of the fraudulently obtained cash – will be held at the Crown Court on September 22. He warned the defendant that he will be jailed if he fails to stick to the terms of his sentence.