A lorry driver posed as his dead neighbour for over two years in order to steal more than £60,000 of his life savings.
For more than two decades, Dean Thompson "unofficially cared" for his neighbour, David Traylen. After David died at the age of 78, Thompson began a two-year scheme where he pretended to be Traylen and get his hands on the dead man's cash.
Shortly after Mr Traylen died, Thomspson phoned up the bank and falsely posed as him, immediately transferring £25,000 to his account. Two years later, he transferred another £30,000 worth of uncashed bonds to himself, Hull Live reports.
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Ben Hammersley, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court Thompson had been an unofficial carer for his 78-year-old neighbour, David Traylen, for almost 20 years.
Mr Traylen did not have any known relatives or beneficiaries to his estate by the time of his death on October 2, 2017, the court heard. His death was registered by Thompson with Hull City Council but he soon called up First Direct bank pretending to be him in order to ask for £28,000 to be transferred into his current account.
Under the disguise of Mr Traylen, Thompson told the bank he was 'very ill and wanted to sort out his funds'. He then wrote himself a cheque for £25,000. Thompson used the money for his family daily expenditures and continued to withdraw £6,367 via Mr Traylen's debit card.
Another incident on October 2019 saw Thompson access £30,000 of uncashed bonds and transferred them into his own account. Thompson's fraud was discovered after Mr Traylen's sister, who lives in New Zealand, came forward to claim his estate, appointing a solicitor in the UK to liquidate the property.
In total, Thompson had taken £61,356.26 from Mr Traylen's accounts. In a police interview, he claimed the money had been a gift from Mr Traylen but he fully admitted to the offences later on. Charlotte Baines, mitigating, said Thompson has had no previous convictions in his 54 years.
She added: "He knows what he did was despicable and utterly regrets his actions. "His intentions were good, he supported David Traylen when he was alive, David had no one to care for him when he was alive. The defendant had meaningful intentions.
"Thompson is someone with a strong work ethic, working for most of his adult life, he had a secure job at Stagecoach Transport. He has been trying to put together the funds to pay back what he took, he wants to put it right."
Judge Peter Kelson QC told Dean Thompson: "I accept that you did previously support the victim before his demise. You described yourself as his unofficial carer, that is an underestimation of the support you provided him. However, after his death, you immediately transferred money to yourself by deceiving his bank.
"The aggravating features of this case are the abuse of trust and sophisticated nature of the offence in that it took significant planning. This surpasses the threshold for immediate custody."
Thompson, 54, of De La Pole Avenue, Hull, admitted five counts of fraud by false representation and one count of theft at Hull Crown Court. Judge Kelson sentenced Dean Thompson to two years in prison.
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