Thieving carer who ‘BETRAYED’ and robbed woman, 94, of nearly £100k jailed
A THIEVING carer has been jailed after the “total betrayal” of a woman she was supposed to look after but robbed of £94,000.
NORTH NEWS
Susan Hopkinson, 50, almost emptied her vulnerable victim’s bank accounts.
She even withdrew money five days after her death at 94.
Hopkins was sentenced to three years and four months in jail this week by a judge who told her: “You knew what you were doing.”
Durham Crown Court heard the carer repeatedly withdrew several hundred pounds at a time from the victim’s savings.
Only after the old lady’s funeral did the thefts come to light when her family, who lived elsewhere, realised that their aunt’s account had been plundered.
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Peter Sabiston, prosecuting, said there was close to £100,000 in her savings when the thefts started but there was only about £3,000 left when she died.
When suspicion fell on Hopkinson she claimed that she had a verbal agreement with the woman allowing her to take cash.
She initially tried to play down the amounts involved, until it became apparent that she had been making withdrawals at the £300 limit each day.
Hopkinson became involved when the victim from County Durham, who was not named, gradually needed more respite care as her condition worsened.
An impact statement from the victim’s nephew and niece, her closest living relatives, was read out in court.
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In it her nephew said he felt, “total betrayal” by the actions of Hopkinson, who had “tainted the grieving process”.
The withdrawal of cash from their aunt’s account even after her death had been “particularly disturbing”, he added.
Hopkinson, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, admitted theft of £94,268.95 between January 1, 2013, and January 9, 2016.
Andrew Finlay, defending, said Hopkinson “still can’t really recall or explain in much detail why she committed the offence and what was going on when the offence was committed”.
He added that she was drinking heavily at the time “which was clearly out of character”.
Sentencing her, Judge Simon Hickey told Hopkinson: “You were of good character, indeed exemplary character, having worked in the care system for 30 years.”
Legal attempts will now be made to recover some at least of the stolen cash.
