Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Carer stole £13k from deaf and disabled man aged 92
Paul Hooper
kentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk A 92-YEAR-OLD disabled man has revealed how a carer fleeced thousands of pounds from his bank account.
Devious Kelly Day, who worked for the company TLC, stole more than £13,200 in a year from vulnerable John Filmer after frequently sneaking his bank card out of his wallet.
Mr Filmer, who is profoundly deaf, thought carer Day, 38, was looking after his shopping needs.
But a jury at Canterbury Crown Court heard how the mum-of-one had been systematically draining cash from his bank account.
Day, of Whitehall Close, Canterbury, was caught red-handed slipping the bank card into Mr Filmer’s wallet, pretending she was returning cash from a shopping trip.
She later admitted to stealing £300, claiming she could not pay her rent arrears and feared eviction – but said it had only happened on the one occasion.
But what she did not know was the wallet had already been checked by a police officer and social services staff who had become suspicious of money disappearing.
Day worked for TLC, which is based at Harvey Drive, Chestfield, and supplies domiciliary carers to disabled and vulnerable clients.
The company motto is “To Care As WE Would Expect Others To Care For Us”.
But Day, who was sacked immediately after her thieving came to light, only cared for cash, the jury decided.
She claimed she had been evicted a number of years ago and feared she would lose her home again if she did not pay her rent arrears in the home where she has lived for 17 years.
The crooked carer claimed Mr Filmer had given her his bank card and she had made the withdrawals over the year, in defiance of her company’s policy, but said it was with his permission.
She told the jury the money, sometimes hundreds of pounds, was used to pay for shopping and buying clothes. She also claimed he gave her a set of keys to let herself into his home.
The carer claimed that on numerous occasions she had failed to fill out a Financial Transaction Form which was required by the company.
But prosecutor Ian Foinette asked her: “So it was just coincidence, was it, that May 21 was the only day you took money and the only day a police officer and social services happened to be there?” She replied: “Yes.” The prosecutor added: “So that was an ideal opportunity for you to take Mr Filmer’s card that morning and help yourself to £300 and slip it [the card] back in a bit later?”
Day retorted: “I saw an opportunity and I took it and I’ve admitted it.”
But Mr Foinette continued: “Yes, you had, because you were effectively caught red-handed and you knew the game was up!”
She said: “You could say that but I didn’t know a police officer would be there when I went round that day. I had every intention to pay the £300 back. ”
Mr Filmer was brought to court in a wheelchair and because of his disability each question had to be written down.
He was asked: “Did you ever take cash out of your bank account?”
Mr Filmer answered: “I have never used a machine; wouldn’t know how to use one. I pay my bills by cheque. I definitely didn’t ask people to take money out for me. I assumed the Kent County Council had been taking the money for some reason.”
The prosecutor said Day, who was on a rota of carers looking after the pensioner, took thousands of pounds without his knowledge.
In May police and social services began a secret probe into the disappearance of large amounts of money.
Mr Foinette said: “She arrived at his home on a day when she was not on the rota to be there.
“The officer prior to her arrival, which she was not to know this, had looked through Mr Filmer’s wallet at his cards and they had been listed.
“She had arrived with shopping which she then put away and was seen to put some money into Mr Filmer’s wallet.
“Then she left. Afterwards, the officer checked the wallet and found an additional card.”
Day was found guilty of the second theft and will be sentenced for both matters next month.
Judge Simon James told her to expect a custodial sentence. She was remanded on bail until the next hearing.