Heartless conman who robbed grieving stepdad is jailed
Thug insisted family member had a lapse in memory
A crook who scammed his grieving, elderly stepdad out of almost £8,000 weeks after his wife’s death has been caged.
Richard Kennedy, 44, snubbed his own mum’s funeral then emptied the bank account of her stroke victim hubby Alexander Moore, 87.
He tried to blame the missing cash on the OAP’s fading memory.
Kennedy was jailed for nine months after he was found guilty of theft at Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday.
Sheriff David Pender slammed the thief and warned he would be locked up.
He said: “In my view, this offence was despicable, the victim being your 87-year-old stepdad.
“Imprisonment is the only disposal appropriate.”
Kennedy convinced the pensioner to hand over his bank card and PIN.
He used it to lift huge sums from cash machines and Post Office branches.
Kennedy targeted his victim just weeks after mum Hughna’s funeral last November.
He no-showed the service after falling out with sister Elsie and Mr Moore.
The lout lifted £7,700 from his account at machines in Silk Street, Broomlands Street and Glasgow’s Paisley Road West.
Mr Moore, of Barrhead Road, told how he was pressured into giving access to his savings.
He said: “My money had stopped. Richard said he would try the post office to see what happened. I gave him the card and PIN number.”
Kennedy claimed his stepdad had taken the cash out and forgotten and had triggered a fraud alert freezing the account.
He insisted he had been given the card because Mr Moore walked with a cane and would not make it to his nearest bank a mile away.
The liar told the court: “He kept taking so much money out with it until it got blocked.”
Experts quizzed Kennedy after his conviction and insisted there is a “strong” likelihood he would re-offend.
Defence lawyer Gemma Rathey
She said: “He resides with his partner, they have three children, aged five, 11 and 16 months.
“As I understand it, neither him or his wife work.
“To sentence him to imprisonment would have a punitive effect not just on him, but his partner and children.”
The Express recently revealed Kennedy has a previous conviction for embezzlement.
The former clerical worker trousered almost £ 5,000 from Renfrewshire Council while working there.
He abused his position to access online purchasing on behalf of the local authority’s human resources department.
Kennedy used taxpayers’ cash to buy televisions and mobile phones from Amazon and had them delivered to his home between May 2014 and February 2015.
He was slapped with an 18-month Community Payback Order, requiring him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work in a 15- month period and repay £3,500.
Sheriff Pender warned there was little chance of any cash being recovered following the latest theft.
He added: “There’s clearly no scope for compensation.
“You have paid little to the previous order and another attempt in this case would be utterly pointless.”
Kennedy, of Gleddoch Road, Penilee, showed no emotion as he was led to the cells to start his sentence.
In my view, this offence was despicable, the victim being your 87-year-old stepdad