The care assistant – and we use the job description loosely – who defrauded a 93-year-old woman shouldn’t have been given a suspended sentence – she should have gone to prison.
Angela McIntyre claimed she was shopping for the pensioner and convinced her to give her 23 blank cheques worth £4,800 over five months. She’d then give items from around the care home to the elderly woman, to make her think she’d bought them for her. It was only after her bank became suspicious that the con was uncovered.
As with children, abuse and mistreatment of the elderly is something our society must never tolerate. At her great age, this lady deserved to be treated with the utmost kindness, not duped and tricked out of her money.
McIntyre will have to pay compensation of £50 a month for two years – a pathetic sum – and has been given a twelve month suspended sentence. The message is clear – you can take the lifesavings of a very old woman by tricking her into giving you cheques and you won’t go to prison. All you’ll have to do is pay a little bit back each month, so it’s not too much of an inconvenience to you.
McIntyre has also been banned for life from working in the care industry, but really this sentence is no deterrent whatsoever.
It’s an added insult to the 93-year-old lady.