A carer who ripped off a 100-year-old woman has three months to pay back £445,000 or she'll have to serve a further three years in jail. Rhian Horsey was jailed after she was found guilty of defrauding her victim Iris Sansom of up to £320,000 from 2011 to 2017 following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
Horsey, described at her sentencing as a "viper" who was "aggressive and unrelenting" in her thefts by recorder Mark Cotter QC, appeared at the court again on Friday for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing. The hearing heard how she had £482,973 of available funds and she was ordered to pay back a compensation figure of £445,901 within three months.
Failure to comply with the order would see Horsey serve a further three years in prison. She is still serving her sentence of five years imprisonment for the original theft which only came to light after Mrs Sansom's daughter Kathryn Taylor became concerned at the frequency and amounts of cash withdrawals from her mother's account and investigated the matter.
Horsey - who had a "professional reputation" according to her defence barrister at her trial - cared for her centenarian victim at her Cardiff home and was trusted to use her debit cards to withdraw cash on her behalf. The theft came to light after Iris Sansom's daughter Kathryn Taylor became concerned at the frequency and amounts of cash withdrawals from her mother's account and investigated the matter.
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Opening the trial at Cardiff Crown Court prosecutor James Wilson told the jury how Horsey was previously known to Mrs Sansom and started caring for her in 2003 after she suffered a heart attack and required care during the night. He said: "Despite her age she remained living on her own in the house she built with her late husband.
"She did require some care. Her daughter...[was] unable to provide her mother with all her care needs so from 2003 to 2017 Rhian Horsey worked for Mrs Sansom as her carer. She started staying the night. She did this three nights a week [and] she received £480 per month – £40 a night."
Mr Wilson told the court that the pensioner got on well with Horsey so when she started having difficulties looking after her own money she trusted Horsey to run her financial affairs. The court heard how the victim's daughter Kathryn Taylor found Horsey "friendly and personable" when she first met her and was aware she would take her mother to the bank so her mum could withdraw money. However Mr Wilson said she "became concerned [Horsey] had taken advantage of her mother" when she noticed "sudden and significant" withdrawals from her bank account for no apparent reason.
On February 13, 2017, Mrs Taylor received a phone call from her mother and went to her home where she saw Mrs Sansom's bank statements. There she saw a number of withdrawals at £500 a time, Mr Wilson said. Mr Wilson said Mrs Taylor took her mother to the bank where she realised there were more irregularities with her mother's account. He said she then took all the information she discovered to South Wales Police.
Horsey was arrested on February 14, 2017. The court heard how she told police she did not steal money from Mrs Sansom and said any money she moved to her account had been done legitimately. The defendant also claimed to police that the pensioner would make significant withdrawals from the bank and that she would use the woman's bank card to do this. However, in October, Horsey, of Y Park, Groesfaen, Pontyclun, was found guilty by a jury and jailed. Recorder Mark Cotter told Horsey: "You advanced yourself as Iris's guardian angel and saving grace when in truth you were a viper. Her savings are gone. Further and worse in my judgement her home is no longer her own. Iris is now subject to a mortgage."
In mitigation Jodie-Jane Hitchock said: "You've heard evidence in the trial of Mrs Horsey's background, professional reputation, and her reputation in the community with Brownies, Guides, as a school governor, and running a foodbank. She has touched the lives of a number of people in her community for a number of years..
"Her husband passed away four weeks after her arrest and was in end-of-life care before she was arrested. She is the mother of three daughters."
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