A man posed as his dead neighbour for more than two years so he could steal more than £60,000 of his cash and life savings.
Dean Thompson claims he 'unofficially cared' for neighbour David Traylen for 20 years. But when Mr Traylen died aged 78, Thompson pretended to be the pensioner to carry out a spending spree with his money. A court heard Thompson, from Hull, spoke to Mr Traylen's bank pretending to be him soon after he passed away and transferred £25,000 to himself. He then transferred a further £30,000 worth of uncashed bonds to himself two years later.
Over those two years, the 54-year-old also withdrew thousands using Mr Traylen's debit card. A total of £61,356.25 was taken from Mr Traylen's accounts, Hull Daily Mail reports. Thompson, of De La Pole Avenue, admitted five counts of fraud by false representation and one count of theft at Hull Crown Court. Ben Hammersley, prosecuting, Mr Traylen did not have any known relatives or beneficiaries to his estate when he died on October 2, 2017 and that Thompson was 'unofficially caring' for him for the last two decades of his life.
