A thief stole £34,000 from her 'grandfather' after he had been diagnosed with dementia and was grieving the death of his wife. Nicole Taylor, 25, spent the money on cocaine, holidays and a car.
She had taken control of Norman Glover's care after he was diagnosed. She used that control to plunder his savings. Mr Glover was mourning his wife, who died weeks into Taylor's 14-month deception, and was left devastated by her actions.
Mr Glover said he had "lost everything", including the choice of which care home to move into. A court heard that his wife, Julie, had helped care for Taylor when her own mother could not, reports LancsLive.
Prosecuting, David Clarke explained that both Mr and Mrs Glover had children from previous marriages and Taylor was the daughter of one of Mrs Glover's children. She referred to Mr Glover as 'granddad' and was treated by him as "like my own".
In 2020 there were concerns for how well the couple could look after themselves, as both were facing health problems. Mr Glover's daughter, Caroline Spindler, was particularly concerned as she lives in Oxfordshire and therefore could not visit frequently. She made various calls to check on his welfare and weight loss and was told that Taylor had been given power of attorney.
On one occasion when she visited there was no food in the fridge and wet clothes appeared to have been left in the washing machine for some time. Mrs Glover's health rapidly deteriorated in during the year and she died in June 2020.
In May Taylor had already begun pilfering money from Mr Glover's account and the thefts carried on until July 2021. During that period she had been given permission to access his bank account, but only for the purpose of paying for maintenance for his house. Instead, she used it to fund a cocaine addiction along with treats for herself including takeaways and tattoos.
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The thefts were spotted and Mr Glover, who had enjoyed some recovery from his health problems, and his daughter took bank statements to the police. When interviewed, Taylor, who has worked in care and at a pub, admitted stealing the money and explained that she had been "off my face on cocaine" for much of that time.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Glover said: "I am incredible disappointed in a person I thought the world of. I am hurt that a loving and caring girl that I treated like my own could do this to me. This will never go away and I will never like anyone else to find themselves in the same situation."
He said that he had lost everything, including being able to choose his own retirement home, adding: "Your grandmother would be ashamed of you."
Mitigating, Jane Miller said Taylor, of Chorley, Lancashire, deeply regretted what she had done and had wrote a letter of apology to her grandfather after she was arrested. Ms Miller said she intended to pay back every penny and planned to hand over her share of an upcoming house sale towards it.
Sentencing at Preston Crown Court, Judge Simon Medland KC described Taylor's behaviour during that time as "living on an almighty bender" on her grandfather's life savings, adding that it was an "enormous breach of trust". He said there was no appropriate alternative to jail and handed out a 14-month sentence.
