Carer gets five years for defrauding 100-year-old woman of £226,000

A carer who defrauded £226,000 from a 100-year-old woman has been jailed for five years.

Rhian Horsey, 55, from Groesfaen near Pontyclun, began caring for Iris Sansom in 2003.

She was found guilty of seven offences of fraud between 2011 and 2017.

While being sentenced, she was told by Recorder Mark Cotter: "You were playing the role of a loyal friend and helper when in truth you are a a dishonest and deceitful individual driven by greed,"

During sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court, the judge also said: "So unrelenting was your assault on her finances that by the end of 2012 the entire £129,000 that had been in her savings account had been wiped out. Iris had no savings."

Horsey then persuaded Iris Samson to mortgage her home and arranged meetings that brought an equity release sum of £200,000, which the judge described as "appalling".

A first tranche of £70,000 was paid, and the judge said: "You went to work, systematically draining money from the account by using the cash card and writing cheques."

The judge outlined how Horsey arranged further drawdowns regularly, and withdrew £500 a day.

The total value of equity released was nearly £200,000, all of which was gone by the beginning of 2017.

Iris and her daughter became aware of unexplained withdrawals and the police were called in.

The judge told Horsey: "You advanced yourself as Iris's guardian angel and saving grace when in truth you were a viper.

"Her savings are gone. Further and worse in my judgement her home is no longer her own. Iris is now subject to a mortgage."

Half the five year sentence will be served in prison the rest on licence.

A review meeting was arranged by the judge for next February to consider compensation and confiscation.