The care home fraudster
ACARE home owner can today be exposed as a despicable fraudster who stole millions of pounds from elderly residents.
David Barton senior, 64, befriended then betrayed his wealthy victims at luxurious Barton Park Nursing Home in Southport.
He was convicted of multiple frauds and thefts after the longest trial in the history of Liverpool Crown Court – lasting more than a year.
The respected businessman got away with his brazen crimes for 18 years, but was finally caught out due to his “extraordinary greed”.
Due to reporting restrictions, the Visiter was unable to cover the trial, but now, for the first time, we can reveal how Barton snr:
Groomed residents, became their next of kin, obtained power of attorney and became an executor and beneficiary of their wills.
Liquidated his victims’ assets so they could be cashed into their bank accounts, then callously drained these of money.
Sold two elderly women his RollsRoyce cars, each worth between £100,000 and £150,000, for a “grossly inflated” £500,000 per car.
Took them out once a week in the cars he kept in his garage, then when they died, stole one of the vehicles back via inheritance.
Tried to claim £10m from the estate of a resident when she died, after she and her husband paid £1m for just two years of care.
The epic trial of Barton snr, of Oxford Road, Birkdale, and others began on May 8, 2017 and ended one year and three days later.
Judge Steven Everett said yesterday (Wednesday): “He is one of the most unpleasant people, one of the most dishonest people, one could ever meet.
“His behaviour was nothing short of despicable.”
Benjamin Myers, QC, prosecuting, told the trial Barton snr lavished attention on his victims and deliberately isolated them from friends and family.
He said the crook had a snake-like ability “to worm his way into the hearts and finances of wealthy residents and to pray upon their frailties and vulnerabilities”.
Mr Myers told the jury: “They became dependent upon him – he groomed them so that they trusted him and relied upon him entirely.
“He led them to believe that he was the only person who cared for them. They believed he was their saviour.
“They would make him their friend, their next of kin, the beneficiary under their wills.
“He would take their money from them whilst they were alive and he would try to take whatever he could from their estates once they were dead.”
Barton snr was originally called Ramamurthie Dasaratha Naidoo and moved to the UK from South Africa with his family in the 1960s.
The dad-of-four and his wife Lucinda became directors of his mother and father’s nursing home business Choice Classic Ltd in 1992.
In 1997, a legal battle began, which eventually saw Barton snr gain control of the homes, but legal costs left him with more than £2m of debt.
He changed his name from Naidoo to Barton snr in June 2005 – around the same time he renamed his Oxford Road care home Barton Park.
Mr Myers told the jury it was Barton snr’s “extraordinary greed” that finally led to him being investigated by the police.
When a wealthy resident called Katie Willey died, Barton snr brought an audacious civil claim against the pensioner’s multi-million pound estate.
He previously tried to strike a deal with the 77-year-old, whereby she would transfer all her money to him, in return for she and her husband Gordon, 82, receiving lifelong care.
The Willeys lived at Barton Park for just two years and had already paid a staggering £1m, yet Barton snr claimed they owed him £10m for care and services.
Mr Myers said: “This was breathtaking dishonesty.”
Barton snr produced false documents to try and defraud Mrs Willey’s estate, but it soon became clear the paperwork was full of lies.
The claim was not pursued to trial and he settled for far less, but his “thoroughly dishonest” ways had finally come to the attention of police.
Mr Myers said Barton snr was a “highly manipulative” man and that his “deviousness” riddled the case.
He said he used his victims’ wealth to “fuel a property empire” worth millions of pounds “as greedily as if he was playing Monopoly”.
Mr Myers said: “In addition to his hunger for property, he was obsessed by high-value, luxury motor cars.
“The way in which they assisted in presenting himself as a man of substance and class he found irresistible.
“Also irresistible to him was how much money they were worth.”
When arrested on June 13, 2014, the Barton family owned a Ferrari Enzo, two Ferrari F430s, a Ferrari 456M, two Rolls-Royce Corniches, a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, a Mercedes S63 and a Mercedes C63.
Mr Myers said Barton snr used cars “not only to satisfy his extravagant tastes” but also to trick residents out of massive sums of money.
He said: “He sold luxury cars to certain elderly residents at grossly inflated prices.
“They trusted him in the transactions and he took advantage of them