Care home bosses jailed over fake £175k will

Two former care home bosses have each been jailed for three years after faking an elderly resident's will and attempting to claim her £175,000 estate.

Husband and wife Graham and Lyn Walker, aged 74 and 71, previously owned Amberley Care Home in Dudley, West Midlands.

The couple, of Ribberford Close, Halesowen, were convicted of fraud alongside the home's former manager, Jamiel Slaney-Summers, who has already been sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

The trio used coloured pens and different styles of handwriting to forge a will for 85-year-old Rita Barnsley, who had moved into the home for care in May 2020 before becoming unwell.

Ringleader Slaney-Summers was also found guilty of stealing £6,000 using the victim's bank card. The BBC has since found concerns were raised about her behaviour more than a decade ago.

The fake will is suspected to have been drawn up in summer 2021, shortly after Barnsley died, according to Dudley Trading Standards, which investigated and prosecuted the case.

Investigators found the document was a "sham", with mismatched signatures naming Walker and Slaney-Summers as executors.

All three defendants were convicted at Wolverhampton Crown Court in November last year.

Slaney-Summers was sent to prison in December but the Walkers' sentencing was delayed because Graham had been unwell in hospital.

The Walkers have also been ordered to pay prosecution costs of £30,000 each.

Amberley Care Home, which provides personal care for about 25 people, some with dementia, is now under new management.

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