Rachel Dawes, 43, cried in the dock as she was jailed for more than two years (Picture: Liverpool Echo/ Facebook)
A vulnerable man was left starving in his freezing home while his ‘despicable’ carer stole £30,000 from his savings to spend on takeaways and paying her own heating and electric.
Rachel Dawes, 43, cried in the dock as she was jailed for more than two years for raiding 60-year-old Gary Stewart’s account while assigned to look after him between 2017 and 2021.
The mum-of-two, who has a previous conviction for fraud, spent the cash on a new sofa, television and washing machine as well as dozens of payments to Amazon, Netflix and fast foods food deliveries.
Dozens more payments went to Paypal, eBay, betting shops, vets, and jewellers.
Judge Katherine Pierpoint told her: ‘You dipped into his account when and wherever you fancied.’
Ben Stanley, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court Dawes worked for care firm Sage Care Ltd and was Mr Stewart’s primary carer between 2017 and March 2021.
He has learning difficulties and needs help with his day to day living such as shopping, personal hygiene, and meal preparation.
Dawes, who also goes by the name Rachel Evans, was suspended by the company on March 26, 2021, for not completing care records and allowing clients to visit her at home.
She had also previously been warned about charging the victim for petrol which was against their policy.
Another carer, Wendy Beckett, visited Mr Stewart the same day on March 26 and was shocked to find him living in ‘uninhabitable’ conditions with no food and just 38p of emergency cash left on the meter.
She took him food shopping but found there was not enough money in his account to pay for it, the court heard.
The mum-of-two, who has a previous conviction for fraud, spent the cash on furniture, appliances and dozens of online payments (Picture: Facebook)
The prosecutor said: ‘Ms Beckett looked through some of his bank statements.
‘Mr Stewart said the bank statements were unopened because the defendant would shout at him if he opened them without her.
‘There were also more bank statements hidden under the carpet in the cupboard which Mr Stewart was not aware of.
‘Upon examination of the bank statements, Ms Beckett noticed there were irregular payments, including regular pharmacy and school payments.’
Concerned, Ms Beckett contacted Sage Care, and a further investigation found a long string of unusual payments from Mr Stewart’s account.
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These included subscriptions for a mobile phone, television services, Amazon Prime and Netflix.
There were also payments for Amazon purchases, eBay purchases, PayPal transactions, Ladbrokes bets and takeaway dinners, as well as regular cash withdrawals.
In total, Dawes made 53 payments to her Amazon account, four Argos purchases, four payments to Brighthouse for a sofa, washing machine and TV, two car insurance payments, 48 regular payments to her energy company, 16 payments to betting shops, two payments to Warrington Vets4Pets, 19 pharmacy payments, six PayPal and eBay purchases, and two payments to jewellery shop Pandora.
Meanwhile, Mr Stewart was left without electricity, heat, and food.
In October 2020, one neighbour said he knocked on her door saying he had no gas or electricity and that he was freezing.
A week later he turned up again, saying he was hungry and freezing and had nothing to eat.
The mum-of-two has a previous conviction for fraud (Picture: Facebook)
The court heard Mr Stewart’s family, who lived in Scotland and Dubai, had expressed concerns about Mr Stewart’s phone being cut off several times.
However, they trusted Dawes to look after him while they were unable to visit him due to Covid-19 restrictions, and even gave her £50 after she told them she had invited Mr Stewart to spend Christmas Day at her house.
Dawes was interviewed by police on November 18, 2021, when she admitted using Mr Stewart’s money for her own means, but claimed this was due to desperation.
She pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and appeared for sentence in court today.
Carmel Wild, defending, said: ‘The defendant says she wasn’t thinking straight with everything going on in her life and felt overwhelmed.
‘This seemed to stem from her being medicated for anxiety and depression following the death of her mother, who she was very close to.
‘Her mum did a lot for her. She was very shocked to discover after her mother’s death, £21,000 debts had been taken out under the defendant’s name. She was struggling with that and working for minimum wage.
‘She had to give up work to look after her husband after he was diagnosed with severe spinal conditions and is awaiting surgery. She had a lot of difficulties in caring for her own children, she does feel overwhelmed from the pressure.’
She said Dawes had started taking Mr Stewart’s money out of desperation, but this had ‘spiralled out of control’ and she soon began buying luxuries.
Dawes pleaded guilty to fraud (Picture: Liverpool Echo)
Judge Katherine Pierpoint told her: ‘You dipped into Mr Stewarts account when and wherever you fancied. His family had themselves expressed concern when his phone had been cut off.
‘Little did they realise this was because you had cleared his bank account.
‘They thought you were there looking after him. You tricked them into believing you were caring for him.
‘As a result of your behaviour, Mr Stewart was left in a very difficult financial state. He was left hungry at times and didn’t have enough electricity or heating in his address. But it’s not just the physical effects. It’s also the emotional impact and damage it causes. He was found, in 2021, as being a confused, angry, frustrated man. It’s a matter of luck that he has been able to rebuild his life and is now doing much better.’
She sentenced Dawes to two years and six months in prison and made a restraining order banning her from contacting Mr Stewart for five years.
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