The family of a dementia-suffering former referee who had his life savings wiped out by his own granddaughter to fund a lavish lifestyle of drugs, holidays and takeaways say the ‘betrayal has been incomprehensible’.
Nicole Taylor, 25, admitted stealing the life savings of 80-year-old Norman Glover at Preston Crown Court last month. She had become power of attorney and was granted permission to access his bank account following his dementia diagnosis, but only for the purpose of maintaining his house.
Taylor, of Kershaw Street, Chorley, spent a total of £37,363.63 in the space of a year on mostly takeaways, tattoos and cash withdrawals. The cash was believed to have been spent on drugs, with her later admitting she had a drug problem.
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Norman’s daughter Caroline, who has supported him throughout, has spoken for the first time of the family’s ordeal and said her father is now relying on charity following the betrayal.
“This has been a horrendous time for our family,” Caroline, 54, from Oxfordshire, said. “My dad worked so hard all his life and was left relying on charity, unable to pay his own care home fees.
“Dad helped to raise Nicole. He supported her completely. I will never understand how a member of his own family, who he treated so well, could behave with such utter contempt and cruelty towards him.”
Former top level football referee Norman was the first official ever to send off Paul Gascoigne and also refereed the match at the Bradford City stadium fire in May 1985.
Norman divorced his first wife, Caroline’s mother, in 1984 and married his second wife, Judith Glover, soon after. Caroline and Andrew Glover, Norman’s children from his first marriage, always kept contact with their father.
Graphic designer Caroline said: “Dad was living in Lancashire and we were in Oxfordshire so it was a long journey but we came up to stay and we often talked on the phone.
“Dad was always busy. He was a director for a stationary firm and worked part-time as a referee. He has photos of himself with many of the greats of the football world. That was his passion.
“He worked long hours and saved hard, because he wanted a secure future for his family.”
Norman helped raise Judith’s children from a previous relationship and treated her grandchildren as his own, with Nicole being especially close to him.
“I knew Nicole and she seemed fond of Dad,” Carol explained. “She was often round at the house to visit and she was always very friendly.”
Norman’s health began to deteriorate in 2016 when he became forgetful and confused. Four years on, he was officially diagnosed with dementia.
Caroline says: “Once when I visited Dad in hospital, he told me ‘Nicole has got my wallet’. He was very agitated about it but I just thought he was confused."
"Alarm bells were starting to ring.”
Judith died in June 2020 from bowel cancer and Caroline took legal advice. After Norman’s bank accounts were examined, and an investigation by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), Taylor was eventually arrested.
Caroline says: “When Nicole found out the OPG were investigating, she texted me to say 'what have I done to deserve this?’. She was only worried about herself, and not the catastrophic impact her actions had on dad and his family.
“When I saw dad’s bank statements, I felt absolutely sickened. There were huge withdrawals of cash, up to £1,000 a day.
“She’d paid for her parking fines, shopping, tattoos, weekends away, Uber Eats and takeaways, mobile phone bills. There were so many takeaway orders, she must have been handing Dad’s debit card round in a free for all.
“I was appalled. Dad worked hard all his life to provide for his family, he treated Nicole as his own granddaughter, and he trusted her. The betrayal was incomprehensible.”
When Norman’s health deteriorated to the point where he needed a care home, Caroline said he longer had the funds to cover the required costs.
“He couldn’t choose his care home, which was very upsetting,” she explained. “We had to rely on the county council for help.
“Dad was then given new medication which really helped with his memory and his confusion. The heart breaking aspect of this was he understood perfectly what Nicole had done to him and he was absolutely devastated.”
Taylor appeared at Preston Crown Court last month where she pleaded guilty to theft and was jailed for 14 months.
Norman’s statement, read out in court, said: “I am incredibly disappointed in the person I thought the world of. I am hurt that a loving, supposedly caring girl that I treated like my own could do this to me. This will never go away, and I wouldn’t like anyone else to find themselves in the same situation. It’s not something I can put aside and carry on with the rest of my life, it will haunt me forever.
“All my life savings have been taken. I gave you, Nicole, permission to use what you needed to maintain my property, that’s all. Not spend it on tattoos, weekends away, endless takeaways and withdrawing large sums of cash for goodness knows what. I earned that money through years of hard work for my retirement.
“I can no longer spend my money the way I wish as it’s all been stolen. You took it all away. All possessions, everything I owned from my life has gone. You have even taken away the choice of which care home I live in for the rest of my life, and that I can never forgive. Your Grandma would be ashamed of you.”
Caroline added: “We were pleased with the outcome of the trial, and it means we can move on. At a time in his life when he should not be worrying about money, he is relying on charity.”
Det Con Rebecca Pugh, of Preston Police, said the 25-year-old ‘took advantage of her vulnerable grandfather at his time of need’. She added: "The financial loss means he can no longer choose his care home because she selfishly took away that luxury."
Norman’s bank, TSB, recently agreed to reimburse him, which the family say has delighted him. But the upset caused by the betrayal remains.
A spokesperson for TSB said: "I am pleased that we have been able to refund Mr Glover in full, under our Fraud Refund Guarantee. This follows the court case that was recently brought to our attention."
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