In its run of success these past years, many of us have felt at least a little bit of an addiction to Candy Crush Saga on our smartphones, tablets, or Facebook pages. But has your love of the game ever driven you to steal thousands of dollars just to keep playing –– and from your own mother, no less?

For nearly two years now, a 45-year-old English woman funneled money from her mother’s bank account just to fund her need for extra lives in Candy Crush, as well as items for other online games, The Telegraph reported. Even worse: It was because the woman was acting as her mother’s caregiver that she had access to her finances. In January 2014, the woman’s mother noticed that a sum of more than £1,000, or almost $2,000, was missing. It was only then that the daughter admitted taking it to finance her Candy Crush habit.

Charged with fraud, the compulsive gamer was recently hit with a 12-week prison sentence, a temporary nighttime curfew, and an order to pay the money back. According to the woman’s lawyer, the defendant/daughter won’t have to worry about that last part, telling the court, “She has now resolved matters with her mother.”



Unfortunately for her, the British penal system was not so forgiving.

We know Candy Crush can be addictive –– The Guardian recently investigated why that is, latching onto King Digital Entertainment’s description of its games as “easy to learn but hard to master.” Perhaps the judge could have sentenced this woman to use the new iPhone app Momentum, which aims to cure folks of their screen-time addictions.

We can’t speak to how “resolved” the matter between mother and daughter really is. But it sounds to us like this high-rolling smartphone gamer is probably going to find her punishment a little tougher than, say, Level 425 of Candy Crush.

Have questions, comments, or just want to tell me something funny? Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com.