Former care home boss jailed for fraud (From Wirral Globe)

Former care home boss jailed for fraud

9:24am Tuesday 22nd September 2009 in News By Lynda Roughley

A FORMER care home boss from Wirral who forged her uncle's will and carried out an elaborate charade to fool his relatives has been jailed for two and a half years.

Susan Taylor's elderly uncle, Walter Meacock moved into the care home she ran with her husband on the Wirral and after they gave it up he moved to another home and died in January 2005 in his 90s.

She said she was dealing with his estate as he requested and a payment was made from his estate to his grandson and the deceased's son, Robin, an electrical engineer, who worked abroad, thought he would get his share in the fullness of time.

In 2007 when he was terminally ill he asked Taylor about it and received solicitors letters saying that it would be sorted out.

But Liverpool Crown Court heard that Taylor, a grandmother of seven, had forged the letters from the fictional firm and when relatives made enquiries they found that the will had never been proved and she had forged it.

Meanwhile after getting rid of the care home Taylor applied for a job with a mental health charity in the Chester area and gave a false reference.

She got the job but when irregularities arose last year more enquiries were made and it was found that she had fabricated the reference, said Kim Egerton, prosecuting.

When she was challenged about it she tried to bluff it out, she added.

Taylor, 59, of Rullerton Road, Wallasey, pleaded guilty to two offences of forgery, fraud and obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

The court heard that she has a previous conviction for fraud.

Brian Treadwell, defending, said that Taylor had had a lot to contend with in her life including spending six months in hospital after being burned by caustic soda and her baby being taken for adoption.

She has been married for 37 years and cares for her husband who is suffering from Motor Neurone Disease.

Mr Treadwell said that when it became clear the will was forged she managed to dig an even deeper hole for herself with the correspondence which did not fool anyone.

She had paid £4000 from Mr Meacock's estate into his grandson's bank account and had not benefitted from it herself.

Jailing her Judge David Swift said,, "I am satisfied your dishonesty was to hide what had gone on with the money. There are clear inferences there were irregularities which you dishonestly sought to hide."