fund a lavish "lottery-style" spending spree over a period of around eight years.

(Image: www.alamy.com)

Svendsen was sentenced to five-and-a-half years while Robert Hills, who admitted wrongdoing and gave prosecution evidence against her, was jailed for three years and four months.

She had denied four theft offences but was convicted by the jury of three of them after a 14-day trial spanning four weeks at Doncaster Crown Court in October and November 2013.

Her daughter Samantha died last year aged 32 and left a £160,000 bungalow to a group of six carers – but left her mother out of the will.

A source told The Sun : "Sam went on holiday last year. She knew it would be her last and she died on the plane home.

"She left her house to the carers.Her mum then declared a vested interest. It's deplorable."

Samantha had been left with debilitating lifelong complications after being starved of oxygen at birth as a result of a medical blunder.

The cerebral palsy sufferer was left wheelchair-bound, could not speak or feed herself and required round-the-clock care.

In 1999, she was awarded £2.6 million compensation.

However, Svendsen and Hills stole half a million pounds and splashed the cash.

It has now been reported that Svendsen is to contest her daughter's will.

The sum was roughly enough to cover her for two years before the bill was due to be footed by the taxpayer.

Lawyers acting for Samantha confirmed the contest.