Man sentenced after stealing £20,000 from elderly woman

A man who stole approximately £20,000 from an elderly woman has been sentenced.

Dean Clarke appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday 16 December where he was sentenced to a total of four years in prison.

Clarke, age 30, of Waterloo Close, Blackburn, had earlier pleaded guilty to the offence.

During the sentencing hearing, the court heard that the victim was a vulnerable, elderly woman who lived in Warrington.

She was contacted by a man, purporting to be from her bank’s fraud department, on Thursday 23 June.

An unknown man then attended the victim’s home shortly after to collect her bank card and banking information.

A number of fraudulent transactions began to take place and large amounts of cash were removed from the victim’s accounts.

Between Thursday 23 June and Wednesday 29 June, the victim was defrauded by approximately £50,000 with Clarke admitting to being responsible for nearly £20,000 of this amount.

He also attempted to make a further £20,000 worth of transactions, which failed at point of sale.

The incident was reported to Cheshire Constabulary who launched an investigation, and Clarke was arrested and subsequently charged.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Joe Davies said: “I welcome the sentence that has been handed to Clarke, who exploited an 84-year-old woman and cleaned out her entire life savings.

“As a result of a thorough investigation, we were able to put forward a catalogue of evidence against Clarke, complete with CCTV images taken of him using the card at eleven different locations.

“Clarke knew what he was doing by targeting the most vulnerable in our communities and held no regard for the victim or the law.

“I would like to praise the victim for coming forward and helping us bring Clarke to justice and shine a light on the real impact that this crime can have on people’s lives.

“As this case demonstrates, we treat all allegations of fraud seriously and I encourage anyone who believes that they, or someone that they know, has been a victim to report it.

“You will be listened to, and we will do all that we can to ensure that the people responsible are held accountable for their actions.”

Anyone who believes that they have been a victim of fraud is urged to contact Cheshire Police via the website or call 101.

For advice about fraud, please visit the website.