Man jailed for taking £100k from woman's bank

A man has been jailed for three years after paying himself more than £100,000 from an elderly woman's bank account while working as a handyman for her in Shropshire.

Simon Appleby, of Letton in Bucknell, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation in August 2024.

The court was told 40-year-old Appleby had worked for the woman in south Shropshire from September 2019 until she died in December 2022, with one transaction for £15,000, made just hours before she died.

Her family contacted police after her death, concerned about a number of payments made to Appleby that totalled £102,627 over the 39-month period.

During their inquiries into Appleby's inquiries, West Mercia Police said he got to know his victim while working as her cleaner.

In 2019, the company he worked for went bankrupt, but he still visited her to carry out odd jobs, like changing light bulbs and painting her garage.

The woman felt that she was able to trust him and allowed him to take payments after using her laptop to log into her account via online banking.

He made 41 payments to himself, of various amounts, including the £15,000 as his victim was dying in hospital.

Police inquiries revealed Appleby visited her in hospital and when he found out she was unconscious, he let himself into her house in order to carry out the transaction.

He claimed some payments made to himself were for materials he bought to help him carry out odd jobs at her house, but he was unable to provide any proof of purchases.

Det Cons Emily Cooke described it as a "shameful abuse of trust", "deeply dishonest and morally inexcusable".

"What he did was calculated, carried out against someone who believed he was acting in her best interests," she said.

"The fact that he continued to pay himself even as she lay unconscious in hospital shows the extent of his deceit.

"I want to commend the victim's family for coming forward and reporting their concerns to police."

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