Social worker burgled pensioner
A Wigan pensioner, who went into respite care, came out to find her social worker had emptied her home.
The horrified 84-year-old discovered that virtually everything she had amassed during her lifetime – and her late husband's ashes – had gone.
Most of her jewellery was recovered, along with some of her savings, but other personal items and all her furniture and fittings, except for a settee and a cupboard, had vanished forever to the tip or charity shops.
Her social worker, Tony Child, denied stealing her property, but after a nine-day trial he was convicted of three specimen burglary offences involving her flat screen TV, 10 items of jewellery and 380 cash.
Margaret Heyes's family today accused Child of "a gross abuse of trust".
The 62-year-old had been on bail, but after the jury at Liverpool Crown Court convicted him, Judge David Boulton refused to renew his bail and remanded him in custody to await sentence later this month.
The father-of-four, whose wife is in hospital having recently had a stroke, was employed by Wigan social services at the time. He had previously worked for Dumfries and Galloway social services, but was sacked after complaining about colleagues.
During the trial, the court heard that in July last year the victim, Margaret Heyes, went into hospital after a fall at home and the following month went into a nursing home for respite care.
On August 28, Child went to her bungalow home in Standish to collect clothes for her and found the premises stuffed from floor to ceiling with items.
Neville Biddle, prosecuting, explained that she used to live in a three-bedroomed house, but after the death of her husband, Joshua, had moved into the one-bedroom bungalow.
Child decided to clear her home and spoke to the nursing home manageress, who agreed to help him along with her partner after he convinced them he had the woman's written permission to do so.
He hired a van and also paid a neighbour of Mrs Heyes to help.
During the operation, which took until mid-September, he took items of her jewellery and about 8,000 worth of cash, found in various locations, to her solicitors.
During the trial, Child, claimed that the solicitor and a senior social worker had given him permission to act as he did but they denied this, as did Mrs Heyes.
His temporary work contract ended on September 17.
When his replacement went to the house, she was shocked to find the bungalow virtually empty but there was rotting food in the fridge and the premises were not clean.
When Mrs Heyes, who had recovered, went home she found that all her possessions had gone, including her husband's ashes.
Child, of The Coach House, Townhead Farm, Houghton, Carlisle, denied four charges of burglary and claimed that he had acted with permission and believed she was to be evicted because of rent arrears.
After the hearing, Mrs Heyes's daughter Pamela Speed said: "This man was supposed to be looking after my mother but instead he ripped her off.
"He spun everyone a load of lies about her rent running out and having to clear the house and told me I couldn't come near. It turns out he was packing everything off to cover up his own thieving.
"A lot of my mum's property went into clothes banks, the dustbins and the tip. Most of it cannot be replaced.
"Child is guilty of a gross abuse of trust."
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Weather for Wigan
Thursday 02 September 2010
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Temperature: 8 C to 22 C
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