A vulnerable, frail and blind woman who lived to the age of 105 was “cruelly and heartlessly exploited” by a callous care centre manager who systematically stole more than £40,600 from her. Sandra Gawthorpe cynically took advantage of the pensioner during a “despicable” and long-running “betrayal” after she was trusted to help look after the elderly woman’s financial affairs.
The fraudster “thought she would never notice” that money was going missing – and used the stolen cash to spend on a gambling addiction, Hull Crown Court heard. Gawthorpe, 63, of Longford Grove, off Annandale Road, Greatfield estate, Hull, admitted an offence of fraud, involving £40,668, between January 12, 2017 and January 20, 2020.
Maleka Akuany, prosecuting, said that the elderly woman, born in 1914, was registered blind in 2015, when she was aged 101. She lived at sheltered accommodation in Hull between 1996 and 2017. Her family lived in Fareham, Hampshire, but had known Gawthorpe for some time and were on friendly terms with her.
The pensioner wanted to manage her own affairs, with help from Gawthorpe, a scheme manager, because she did not have mental capacity while she was in a Hull care centre. The family noticed after a few months that money was going missing and payments were behind.
Her pocket money account was running empty. Contact with Gawthorpe became more difficult and eventually stopped.
Gawthorpe was suspended from her role in February 2019 because of a police investigation. She claimed that social services had taken all the woman’s financial documents.
The family reported its “suspicions of wrongdoing” in 2019, including over the lack of pocket money for the pensioner and unpaid care centre bills. She died in January 2020 at the age of 105.
Concerns were reported to her solicitor. The woman was more than £16,000 in debt at the time of her death but she should not have been.
It was discovered that Gawthorpe had taken her to the bank and had access to her bank. Gawthorpe made cashpoint withdrawals, used cheques and made card transactions to retailers.
The total fraud was £40,668. Gawthorpe denied some fraudulent behaviour but admitted making retail transactions and withdrawing money, each time because she needed to pay something off.
The pensioner’s grandson said that she “placed complete faith” in Gawthorpe and trusted her as a professional by giving her access to her bank account. Instead of honouring that duty of care, Gawthorpe abused that trust and stole money over a long period of time.
It was a “betrayal” and Gawthorpe was not a stranger but “someone welcomed into our gran’s life” and entrusted with her care. The level of betrayal was difficult to put into words, said the grandson.
The pensioner was “particularly vulnerable” because of the onset of glaucoma and she became increasingly dependent on others. She was no longer able to maintain her financial affairs.
She was completely dependent on others to act honestly. She had a lifetime of hard work, sacrifice and careful planning over financial matters.
Those funds were intended to provide security, dignity, comfort and care in her later years, particularly as her health declined but they were taken for someone else’s benefit. This continued to cause considerable distress to members of the family.
“The complainant was particularly vulnerable due to her age and her mental capacity,” said Miss Akuany. Gawthorpe had no previous convictions but she had cautions for theft, involving similar activity, in 2019.
Molly Minter, mitigating, said that Gawthorpe pleaded guilty at an early opportunity and made some admissions during police interview. “This was a vulnerable victim,” said Miss Minter.
“This defendant is extremely remorseful. She has expressed significant remorse. She feels disgusted and she feels ashamed with herself.”
Gawthorpe was, at first, just assisting the woman with her accounts. “It wasn’t pre-planned offending,” said Miss Minter.
She was, at the time, in the middle of a gambling addiction that started in the 2010s and escalated. “She very clearly lost control,” said Miss Minter.
Gawthorpe had an “irrational focus on chasing losses” and she thought that she would eventually win and that she would be able to pay the victim back. “She had a significant amount of debt,” said Miss Minter.
The defendant now had an individual voluntary arrangement but, at the time, she could not afford to pay her bills and “couldn’t afford to eat”. Some of the stolen money was for gambling, however.
Gawthorpe had installed an app on her mobile phone to stop access to gambling websites. “The issue with gambling has gone,” said Miss Minter.
“She is not considered likely to return to her past behaviour.” She had since worked as a cleaner and she had remained out of trouble for six years after the offence.
Recorder Nathan Moxon said that the pensioner reached the “tremendous age” of 105 but her later life was affected by sight impairment and dementia. Gawthorpe “cruelly and heartlessly exploited that” for her own financial gain.
“You took advantage of that trust and her vulnerability by repeatedly drawing money out of her account,” said Recorder Moxon. The woman did not realise what was going on and her family had to try to process Gawthorpe’s deception at a time when they were grieving for her.
This caused stress during what was already a difficult period. Her grandson correctly described Gawthorpe’s actions as a “betrayal” – and her behaviour followed a caution she received in 2019 for theft from other people in her care.
“The offending is an abuse of a position of trust,” said Recorder Moxon. “This was deliberate targeting of a victim based on vulnerability. You clearly chose to steal from her as you thought she would never notice.”
Gawthorpe tried to “cover her tracks” by misleading the woman’s family over where financial documents were, saying that they had been taken by social services when this was untrue. The use of the woman’s bank card was “despicable”.
Gawthorpe was given a suspended prison sentence of two years and 10 months and she was ordered to do 250 hours’ unpaid work. There will be a proceeds of crime hearing next year.
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