Who could not wait to get rid of him
» Frail 78-yr-old from US left near hospital » Plotter claimed he found patient in lane
in Britain. Carers spoke to the pensioner over several months and eventually managed to coax his name out of him.
After a police appeal on the BBC in 2016, Mr Curry was identified as a married dad-of-two from Los Angeles.
Investigators then discovered his home in a wealthy suburb of LA had been gutted by fire a year earlier.
British police contacted his son Kevin Curry in Whittier, California, who denied being related to his dad.
But with the help of the FBI, officers discovered Kevin had flown to the UK become increasingly “volatile” as he lashed out at his vulnerable dad.
In 2000 Roger filed a restraining order against his son over “domestic violence”. Curry, who has served time for assault with a deadly weapon, fraud and domestic assault, later threatened to kill him.
Roger eventually let him back into his life. But in 2014 his anger would resurface. His parents’ home in Whittier, California, was badly damaged in a fire and fenced off. Roger and his wife left and were not with his dad and also his mother days before the abandonment. With the net closing, Hayes “inexplicably” came forward to police and admitted he was the man who “discovered” Mr Curry.
But he still denied knowing the man’s family or being involved in any plot.
When questioned further, the man who the court was told is a “serial fantasist” allegedly falsely claimed to be a member of the SBS and a decorated Gulf War hero.
Detectives discovered his claims were a “pack of lies” and found he was, in fact, seen for almost a year. In August 2015, a neighbour saw Roger behind the fence.
Mary Jo was found on an inflatable mattress in the backyard. Curry was suspected of locking them in the garden behind the fence. He was not prosecuted as his mum claimed it was her idea to move back to the burned-out home.
Three months later, Roger was flown to Britain by Curry and Mary Jo who left him there, court papers show.
More than 100,000 elderly people are Hereford County Hospital Currys’ former home “best mates” with Kevin Curry. The pair met when Hayes, of Taunton, Somerset, was living in California, and they stayed in contact after he was deported from the US in 2013 for drink-driving.
Fitness guru Hayes also claimed to have trained former Formula 1 racing driver David Coulthard.
At the court yesterday, Hayes admitted perverting the course of justice and fraud.
Jailing him for two-and-a-half years, Judge Daniel PearceHiggins QC said the crime was a “wellplanned” deception. He added: “There was an enormous waste of police and public resources because of false information put forward by the defendant.” Prosecutors said calls and texts between Hayes and Kevin Curry proved they were involved in a plot. It was said the aim was to no longer have the burden of caring for Mr Curry. After being dumped, he was cared HISTORY Hereford for in Britain for eight months, at a cost to the taxpayer of up to £20,000, before being returned to the US in 2016. He now lives in a care home in LA. The court was told that Hayes’ motivation for getting involved in the plot remains unclear but he did not appear to have been paid.
Flight records showed Kevin Curry left the UK 18 days after his dad, a former nurse, was found near the hospital. Hayes joined Kevin and Kevin’s mum Mary Jo on a holiday to France and Denmark. Kevin and Mrs Curry later flew home to the US without Mr Curry. Kevin is under investigation in the US for elder abuse, fraud and kidnapping. It is not known if his mum faces charges. abandoned each year in the States, usually by a relative at a hospital. It has been dubbed “granny dumping”.
Social workers say millions of Americans are at breaking point over the burden of caring for ill and elderly parents, overwhelmed by mounting medical bills.
Granny dumping originated in Japan but is now increasingly prevalent in US states such as Florida, Texas and California where there are large populations of retirement communities.