Carer Rhian Horsey defrauded 100-year-old woman out of £226k

A carer has been found guilty of defrauding a 100-year-old woman of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Rhian Horsey, 55, of Pontyclun, was employed to look after Iris Sansom between 2003 and 2017.

Cardiff Crown Court heard she "systematically exploited and defrauded" Mrs Sansom.

Her daughter, Kathryn Taylor, alerted police in 2017 after bank statements showed substantial cash withdrawals had been made from her mother's savings.

Numerous cheques had also been written out to Horsey.

Horsey was "completely transparent" about what the cash was for, the court heard.

She transferred large sums from Mrs Sansom's savings account to a bank account and withdrew it over the counter and from cash machines.

Jodie-Jane Hitchcock, defending, said the withdrawals were "legitimate" and made with Mrs Sansom's knowledge.

Horsey said the withdrawals were used to pay her wages, care bills, shopping, house repairs and gardening.

Ms Hitchock told the court details of an equity release plan from had been sent to Mrs Sansom's solicitor.

"It's not a secret squirrel exercise between Mrs Horsey and Mrs Sansom," she said.

Mrs Sansom said in pre-recorded video evidence that she was "not very good with money matters".

The court heard she was of a generation who wanted to have her cash at home.

"That's what Iris wanted to do," Horsey told the court. "It wasn't for me to question and, in fact, if I had, she wouldn't have listened."

The court was told Horsey "was living a lifestyle beyond her means".

She had mortgage arrears, spent £41,000 on cruises and £15,000 renting coastal cottages and woodland retreats.

Money was also spent on hotels, theatres, jewellery and eating out.

She denied that was out of the ordinary and said it was "something we have always done" but the prosecution claimed Horsey exploited Mrs Sansom's vulnerability.

"The nature of the relationship was one of trust," said prosecuting counsel James Wilson. "Iris Sansom trusted Rhian Horsey completely."

Another witness descried their relationship as being "more like mother and daughter".

Between 2010 and 2013, £130,000 was withdrawn from Mrs Sansom's savings.

The equity release scheme paid out instalments of £67,807, £29,965, £49,965 and £49,965.

Each time the plan paid out, withdrawals of £500 were made "on almost a daily basis".

By 2017, nearly all the funds had been depleted, the court heard.

Between 2011 and 2017, cash withdrawals from Mrs Sansom's bank account totalled £226,300.

Seventy-four cheques amounting to £55,769 were made out to Horsey and paid into her account, with £84,000 in unidentified cash paid into Horsey's bank account during the same period.

She claimed she was paid in cash for her childminding work, but it was suggested that income was much lower than the deposits.

The prosecution said: "The level of monies taken from Iris Sansom's account went beyond legitimate living expenses for Iris Sansom or legitimate payments to Rhian Horsey.

"Rhian Horsey stole from Iris Sansom and she exploited her for her own benefit."

The jury found Horsey guilty of all seven charges of fraud and she will be sentenced on Monday.