Yahoo News Carer jailed for stealing £37k from blind pensioner to fund Caribbean holidays
A carer stole more than £37,500 from a blind pensioner and then splashed out on luxury holidays to the Caribbean.
Rosalyn Ashbourne, 39, was sentenced to two years in prison after she plundered the bank account of her vulnerable 70-year-old patient over 18 months.
Southwark crown court heard the victim has been left “traumatised” by the fraud, which Judge Joanna Korner described as a “nasty, mean offence”.
Sentencing Ashbourne this week, she added: “Your victim was blind and had limited mobility. You abused the position of trust you were in and took advantage of his vulnerability.
“The only motive I can see is one of sheer greed. The effect you had on the victim is [that] he is now devastated emotionally and finds it very difficult to trust the carers on whom he relies.”
Ashbourne was employed by Marylebone-based Able Homecare to cook, clean and shop for vulnerable elderly people.
You took advantage of his vulnerability. The only motive I can see is sheer greed
Judge Joanna Korner
She visited the victim’s Westminster home three times a week.
After accessing his bank cards and PINs in June 2017, Ashbourne started withdrawing thousands of pounds a month from his account.
The fraud was uncovered in January 2019 by the victim’s sister, who had been given power of attorney over his affairs.
A police investigation revealed Ashbourne had bought luxury holidays for herself and three others to the Caribbean and a solo trip to the islands.
The court heard she also paid off bank loans she had taken out.
In a statement read in court, the victim’s sister said: “[The fraud] has traumatised my brother.
"He has had to go to hospital because of it … I feel very let down by someone who I thought cared about him.”
Ashbourne, of Pimlico, had admitted one count of fraud by false representation.
The victim’s bank reimbursed the money she had stolen from him.
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