A man who stole £20,000 from an 84-year-old woman has been jailed.
Dean Clarke, 30, made contact with the elderly woman on June 23, pretending to be a member of her bank's fraud department. A man then entered the vulnerable woman's home in Warrington to collect her bank card and banking information.
A number of fraudulent transactions began to take place and large amounts of cash were removed from the victim’s accounts. Between June 23 and June 29, around £50,000 was removed from the woman's account, reportedly her entire life savings.
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Clarke, of Waterloo Close, Blackburn, admitted being responsible for around £20,000 of this. He also attempted to make a further £20,000 worth of transactions, which failed at point of sale.
The incident was reported to Cheshire Constabulary who launched an investigation, and Clarke was arrested and subsequently charged. Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Joe Davies said: “I welcome the sentence that has been handed to Clarke, who exploited an 84-year-old woman and cleaned out her entire life savings.
“As a result of a thorough investigation, we were able to put forward a catalogue of evidence against Clarke, complete with CCTV images taken of him using the card at eleven different locations.
“Clarke knew what he was doing by targeting the most vulnerable in our communities and held no regard for the victim or the law.
“I would like to praise the victim for coming forward and helping us bring Clarke to justice and shine a light on the real impact that this crime can have on people’s lives.
“As this case demonstrates, we treat all allegations of fraud seriously and I encourage anyone who believes that they, or someone that they know, has been a victim to report it.
“You will be listened to, and we will do all that we can to ensure that the people responsible are held accountable for their actions.”
Clarke appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on December 16, where he was jailed for four years.
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