UK! fraud, theft, rob, burglary, shoplifting, gangs, Drug trafficking 2024.11.11-12.18

A man who tried to smuggle £4m worth of ketamine into the UK has been jailed for three years and nine months after National Crime Agency (NCA) officers recovered footage of him buying wood to conceal the drugs.

Mika Voorhans, 21, of Roosendaal, the Netherlands, was arrested after 100 kilos of ketamine – a Class B drug which can cause significant bladder problems and affect mental health – were discovered behind panelling screwed to the inside of his van.

The NCA launched an investigation after Voorhans was stopped when attempting to board the Channel Tunnel in France in the early hours of 4 December 2023.

Border Force officers spotted a bulge in the panelling and removed the wood, revealing the ketamine, which is increasingly being abused by young people.

Between 3 and 4 per cent of 16-24 year olds have misused ketamine every year for the past five years, compared to between 0.8 and 2 per cent in all previous years since records began in 2006.

Voorhans denied knowledge of the drugs. He told NCA investigators he hired the van to collect a second-hand motorbike in Coventry for a friend-of-a-friend. He claimed the panelling was installed by others, to prevent damage to the van.

Officers found a tape measure and drill inside the vehicle, along with receipts revealing Voorhans had spent £850 on plywood and the tape measure at a DIY shop in Amsterdam three days before being stopped.

NCA officers, assisted by Dutch Police, retrieved shop CCTV footage before it could be wiped. The footage showed Voorhans buying the panelling and taking it to the van.

Voorhans’ phone contained a video of the van being panelled and Snapchat posts requesting help with woodwork.

Forensic analysts also identified Voorhans’ DNA on the drugs.

Faced with the irrefutable evidence gathered by officers, Voorhans abandoned his cover story and pleaded guilty to importing Class B drugs at Canterbury Crown Court on 9 October.

He was sentenced at the same court today, Friday 13 December.

NCA Operations Manager Richard Deakin said:

“Voorhans prepared a cover story but he underestimated the close working relationship we have with police overseas and our determination to stop extremely harmful drugs making it to UK streets.

“Had Voorhans not been stopped, I have no doubt this huge quantity of drugs would have caused harm to a great many people in the UK. Instead, the ketamine will be destroyed and Voorhans is spending years in prison.”

Police arrest 93 members of shoplifting gangs behind £4million retail thefts
Operation Pegasus has ‘impacted 28 organised crime groups and high-harm individuals’ responsible for more than £4million in losses to businesses, police say

A dedicated police squad has arrested 93 members of organised shoplifting gangs amid an explosion in retail thefts.

Operation Pegasus has “impacted 28 organised crime groups and high-harm individuals” responsible for more than £4 million in losses to businesses, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said.

Among those arrested were three brazen shoplifters from west London who were part of a criminal gang that stole nearly £200,000 of goods from Tesco

Laura Miron, 27, OvIliv Firan, 38, and Nicolae Boia, 30, are believed to be responsible for over 100 crimes targeting large supermarkets.

In their highest value theft, they stole champagne in a single £4,500 shoplifting spree.

The trio were jailed at Guildford Crown Court last month.

Official figures released in October showed that shoplifting had hit a new 20-year high.

A total of 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024, up 29% on the 365,173 recorded in the previous 12 months, and the highest annual figure since current records began in the year to March 2003.

In November the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee wrote to policing minister Dame Diana Johnson saying that shop theft is “seriously underreported and not being tackled properly”.

It said that the problem risks undermining confidence in the police and the criminal justice system.

Operation Pegasus, which gathers intelligence on retail crime, received 92 referrals from retailers and other organisations, which led police to identify 228 offenders whose names were previously unknown.

The team has also identified 70 vehicles being used in organised retail crime.

So far, 32 of the 93 arrested offenders have appeared in court, and five have been deported.

Asked whether 93 arrests is enough, Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, NPCC lead for acquisitive crime, said: “We are targeting those prolific offenders who are identified every day in stores across the country, who the 43 (police) forces are working really hard to arrest.

“It’s much, much more than that, in terms of the totality, it’s just 93 arrests from the organised groups that we’ve been able to map in the work that we’ve been doing with Pegasus.”

Offenders deliberately target different geographical areas and shops to try to avoid detection, police believe.

Official figures released in October showed that shoplifting had hit a new 20-year high

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警方逮捕 93 名商店盗窃团伙成员，盗窃金额达 400 万英镑
警方称，“飞马行动”已“打击了 28 个有组织犯罪集团和高危害个人”，给企业造成了超过 400 万英镑的损失

10 月份公布的官方数据显示，商店盗窃案创下 20 年来新高

(Humberside Police)
Four ‘sinister attackers’ found guilty
Published:14:26 10/12/2024
NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE

Four ‘sinister attackers’ have been found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery after they travelled 180 miles from London to Scunthorpe to launch an unprovoked attack on a 41-year-old man.

Following a 22-day trial, all four men have been found unanimously guilty of the following offences:
Mark Baguena, 44-years-old, of King Henry’s Mews in Enfield has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery
Vincent Bennett, 45-years-old, of Government Row in Enfield has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to possess an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence
Safin Mohammed, 45-years-old, of Upper Tollington Park in London, has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery
Sukhvinder Singh-Degwa, 45-years-old, of Fassett Square in London has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to possess an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence

All four men were remanded into custody to appear at Hull Crown Court for sentencing in January 2025.

On Tuesday 28 November 2023, the four men set out on a trip that would cause injuries to a man they didn’t know in a ‘sinister’ and ‘predatory’ attack.

Sukhvinder Singh-Degwa and Vincent Bennett had contacted each other days prior to the incident taking place to arrange the robbery and plan for Safin Mohammed and Mark Baguena to be involved too. Singh-Degwa arrived to pick them up in his VW along with Mohammed, and together they travelled to South Yorkshire, arriving in Doncaster at around 2pm. Baguena subsequently hired a Citroen van, and with Bennett in the passenger seat, they travelled to Scunthorpe with Singh-Degwa in convoy driving the VW.

Arriving at 4.20pm, Baguena parked the van on Dale Street in Scunthorpe, directly opposite the home address of the victim they were intending to attack. Mohammed was then seen on CCTV driving the VW out of sight to hide away on a parallel street.

Meanwhile, the victim, a 41-year-old man, not known to the four individuals, left his business shortly after 5pm and drove home, just like any other Tuesday. He reversed his vehicle onto his driveway, as he always did, oblivious to the fact Baguena, Singh-Degwa and Bennett were hiding in the van just over the road, waiting to pounce.

As the man was walking to his front door, Bennett and Singh-Degwa approached him from behind, Singh-Degwa launching the first blow.

Bennett subsequently wielded a weapon from his pocket, brandishing what the victim thought to be a handgun, and pointed it at the victim, making threats to shoot him. He then proceeded to strike the victim with the butt of the gun to his head causing an injury to the left side of his face.

Baguena then alights from the van and makes his way to the end of the driveway where he acts as a lookout for Bennett and Singh-Degwa in their unfolding attack.

In the commotion, the victim falls over a wall onto the floor, but Singh-Degwa and Bennett do not subside their attack whilst he is defenceless on the floor. Due to the commotion, a neighbour became aware of the situation which caused all three men to then flee from the scene of the attack, and they are seen on CCTV to run around the corner, leaving the van parked in situ.

Once alone, the victim who suffered injuries to his face realises that the assailants also stole his house and vehicle keys and subsequently calls 999.

Armed officers were deployed, and an area search was conducted in a bid to locate and arrest those involved.

In a thorough search of the van, a phone, set of keys and wallet belonging to Baguena were found inside, and the VW was located with all four of the suspects inside at around 6.50pm on Mulgrave Street, a neighbouring street to where the incident had taken place.

Armed officers then conducted a formal armed detention of the vehicle and the occupants, and each of the men were searched. During the search, a butterfly knife and knuckle duster was found, along with four mobile phones, forensic evidence later identifying two of which to be Baguena’s. Two bags were discovered to be full of imitation police uniform items including stab vests, baseball caps and t-shirts. Bennett was also found to be in possession of a police warrant card, and subsequently, all four men were arrested on suspicion of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause intimidation, conspiracy to commit robbery, impersonating a police officer, and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon – a knuckle duster, and butterfly knife.

An investigation was launched, and as part of multiple lines of enquiries over the coming days, the VW car was found to belong to an executive taxi company in London and formally registered to Singh-Degwa who used the vehicle for both business and personal use. CCTV trawls then identified the Citroen van as being hired by Baguena from a company in Doncaster.

As a result all four men were charged and remanded and pleaded not guilty to all offences.

Leading the investigation was Detective Constable Scott Belton from Scunthorpe’s Criminal Investigation Department, he said: “This was just another Tuesday evening for the victim who was returning home after a day’s work. He was targeted, four on one, in an unprovoked attack within touching distance of his own home.

“I’d like to commend the victim for their patience throughout the entire court process, and especially for their bravery in making that phone call to us despite his injuries, and especially after what must have been a terrifying ordeal. I know the guilty verdict will not take away any long-term physical and emotional impact this incident has had on him, but I am reassured that all four individuals are being held accountable for their actions and unable to inflict any more serious harm within our communities.

“Baguena, Bennett, Singh-Degwa and Mohammed are four sinister attackers who set out that day to travel over one hundred miles to attack an innocent man, whom they didn’t even know.

“Violent crime of any nature will not be tolerated, and we will always do everything we can to seek justice for victims who have suffered serious injuries, and emotional trauma at the hands of people whose sole purpose is to intimidate and invoke harm in our communities.”

If you have information about crime in your area, please report it to us via our non-emergency number 101 or by speaking to local officers whilst they’re out and about.

You can also report anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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四名“险恶袭击者”从伦敦前往 180 英里外的斯肯索普，对一名 41 岁的男子进行无端袭击，最终被判犯有共谋抢劫罪。

Mother and daughter who ‘terrorised’ neighbours with campaign of abuse jailed
Susan Chen, 61, and her solicitor daughter Linda Lu, 35, were jailed for five-and-a-half years on Friday for their ‘malicious’ behaviour.

A mother and her lawyer daughter who carried out a campaign of harassment against their neighbours have been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Susan Chen, 61, and Linda Lu, 35, were caught on camera banging loudly, playing music, laughing hysterically and shouting at their rented semi-detached home in Linga Lane in the Lincolnshire village of Bassingham, as part of what a judge called “persistent and malicious” behaviour towards their neighbours James and Lynn Smith.

Chen shone torches at the home of Mr and Mrs Smith in the dark for around an hour, repeatedly kicked a metal bin, smashed bottles against the adjoining fence, spied on them and their children when they tried to spend time in their own garden and followed them when they left the house.

A mobile phone playing the 1920s song The Laughing Policeman on repeat and other loud music was also left in the back garden underneath an umbrella in a bid to cause “maximum distress”, Judge James House KC said as he sentenced them at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.

The pair were convicted in October of one count each of stalking their neighbours after a five-week trial in which they represented themselves and were “extremely challenging”, the judge said.

All steps of intervention and control – which included community warning notices, visiting from police and words of advice, working with the ASB officers at North Kesteven District Council – were ignored by the suspects, who made it their mission to torment the victims
Pc Jordan Bathie-Drexler

They failed to convince the jury of their claims that they were the victims, not the instigators.

The court heard Chen and Lu verbally abused their neighbours, even accusing Mr Smith, a teacher, of being a paedophile, a “freak” and a “f■ weirdo” during their campaign of harassment which started after an argument over the cutting of a hedge on July 18 2023.

The mother and daughter threatened legal action, filmed the incident and even stopped passing cars telling the drivers to call the police after Mr Smith trimmed the hedge between their properties as he usually did.

Judge House said the pair had shown no remorse for the “deeply unpleasant” allegations they had levied against their neighbour, adding that they were “figments of the defendants’ own delusions”.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecution counsel Steve Taylor, Mrs Smith said the family are actively looking to move away from the dream home they had wanted to live in forever after the “onslaught” they faced.

Mr Smith added that their happiness at the home that they had enjoyed for 12 years was “shattered” as soon as Chen, her ex-partner and her daughter moved in in March 2023.

He said: “Why would someone take pleasure in what Chen and Lu have done to us? This was much more than a simple neighbour dispute – it was calculated, manipulative and persistent.”

Mr Taylor told the court that while Lu, a qualified solicitor, had no previous convictions, Chen had attacked an elderly couple in 2020 that she encountered in a park near Newark while she was running.

Having become “aggrieved” that the couple, who had a number of dogs with them, were blocking her path, she verbally abused them and, on subsequent occasions, spat at them and hit them and a woman who tried to intervene with a walking pole.

Given 20 minutes by the judge to provide mitigation, Chen told the court “we were the real victims of their stalking” and said their neighbours had “made our lives a living hell”.

Lu said there was “no evidence” her and her mother’s actions caused any fear or distress to their neighbours, and that what was recorded were “private conversations that happened inside a private home … clearly they were random conversations that weren’t about anyone in particular”.

Judge House rejected those claims, saying they were determined to “destroy the Smiths’ peace and quiet”, and terrorised them in their own home in what was one of the most serious cases of this nature that the court has had to deal with.

As well as ordering that they serve half of their five-and-a-half-year sentence in prison before being eligible for release on licence, he imposed an indeterminate restraining order on them both, forbidding them from contacting a number of neighbours or their workplaces, from going anywhere they may expect to see those neighbours, and from entering the village of Bassingham.

A separate order was put in place forbidding them from contacting two named police officers who were involved in the investigation.

Judge House said: “This was a complete persecution that destroyed their wellbeing and their ability to enjoy their own property.

“Both Mr and Mrs Smith have shown remarkable courage in standing up to the defendants. Their lives have been turned upside by the harassment of them.

“Mrs Smith has required counselling and medication. Mr Smith has also required medication.

“It remains to be seen if they will be able to put these events behind them in a house they have previously enjoyed and loved.”

In a statement released after the sentencing, lead investigating officer Pc Jordan Bathie-Drexler said: “This case might be mistaken as a neighbour dispute. But what on the face of it looked like ASB, was actually offending against the victims that took place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, over a three-month period until the offenders were remanded in custody.

“All steps of intervention and control – which included community warning notices, visiting from police and words of advice, working with the ASB officers at North Kesteven District Council – were ignored by the suspects, who made it their mission to torment the victims.”

He added: “In almost 10 years of policing, I have never seen such persistent, relentless and unprovoked offending by a suspect.

“Linda Lu utilised her position as a registered solicitor in order to carry out an all-out war on the victims of this case. This case has involved hundreds of hours work by police, as well as multiple witnesses who came forward assisted in the case and ensuring justice prevailed.”

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母女因辱骂邻居“恐吓”邻居被判入狱
周五，61 岁的苏珊·陈 (Susan Chen) 和她 35 岁的律师女儿琳达·卢 (Linda Lu) 因“恶意”行为被判入狱五年半。

一位母亲和她的律师女儿因对邻居进行骚扰而被判入狱五年半。

61 岁的苏珊·陈 (Susan Chen) 和 35 岁的琳达·卢 (Linda Lu) 被拍到在他们位于林肯郡巴辛厄姆村林加巷租住的半独立式住宅内大声敲打、播放音乐、歇斯底里地大笑和喊叫，法官称这是对邻居詹姆斯和林恩·史密斯 ( James and Lynn Smith) 的“持续和恶意”行为。

Reading woman robbed by two men on push-bike and motorbike

Two men have robbed a woman in broad daylight in central Reading, prompting an appeal for witnesses from police.

The victim, a woman in her thirties, ‘had her trolley pushed and £45 in cash taken out of her hand’, according to police, in Admiral’s Court at around 9.25am on Tuesday.

There were two offenders involved who made off towards Matalan.

One of the offenders is described as a white man, aged in his twenties and was wearing a grey helmet, black jacket and trousers and had a red phone tucked into his helmet, according to Thames Valley Police.

He had a black Yamaha motorbike, partial registration GU68.

The second offender is also described as a white man, aged in his twenties. He had blonde hair, was wearing a blue coat and is around 5ft10ins tall. He was on a push bike, according to police.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Lara Conboy, said: “We are appealing for information following this incident.

“We are asking anyone with information to please call 101 quoting reference 43240584204.

“I would particularly like to hear from anyone with CCTV, dash-cam, or mobile footage, to get in touch with the force in case it has captured something which may assist this investigation.

“If you do not wish to speak to police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

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两名男子在光天化日之下在雷丁市中心抢劫了一名女子，警方呼吁目击者出面作证。

警方称，受害者是一名三十多岁的女性，“她的手推车被推，手中的 45 英镑现金被抢走”。

两名罪犯逃往马塔兰。

据泰晤士河谷警方介绍，其中一名罪犯是一名白人男子，二十多岁，戴着灰色头盔，身穿黑色夹克和裤子，头盔里藏有一部红色手机。

他有一辆黑色的雅马哈摩托车，部分注册号为 GU68。

第二名罪犯也是一名白人男子，20 多岁。他有一头金发，身穿蓝色外套，身高约 5 英尺 10 英寸。据警方称，他骑着一辆自行车。

调查人员、侦缉警员拉拉·康博伊 (Lara Conboy) 表示：“我们呼吁公众提供有关此事件的信息。

Annabelle Allan who defrauded victims ordered to pay £1

A FORMER bank worker who defrauded multiple victims out of hundreds of thousands of pounds has been ordered to pay back a nominal amount of £1.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Annabelle Allan, who appeared via video link from HMP Askham Grange near York, had benefited by £717,507.50 after setting up a sophisticated fake share scheme.

The 29-year-old mother-of-two was dismissed by Lloyds in 2019 when the scale of her fraud became known.

She was jailed for four years in June this year.

Her Honour Judge Kirstie Watson made a confiscation order after hearing that Allan had voluntarily repaid around £357,000 in relation to the bank fraud and that the total remaining benefit was £377,942.45.

She noted that the amount available to the court was £1 and made a confiscation order for the sum of £1, payable within 28 days.

Allan was working in IT at Lloyds in Halifax when she created a detailed and convincing fake Lloyds share scheme that she used to get family, friends, and associates to invest tens of thousands of pounds in using her IT job as a cover.

She supported her deception by sending fake emails and messages from a fictitious person at Lloyds called ‘Declan Bishop’.

Five victims paid more than £278,000 into the fake scheme. Some people received a return, but the deception meant that money was other people’s investments.

One woman handed over her life savings.

During more than two years, starting in January 2017 Allan received a total of £495,771.33.

The police began investigating Allan in January 2019. She was dismissed by Lloyds in April that year – after she admitted opening accounts in her brother’s name.

Lloyds has since compensated five of Allan’s victims to the tune of £258,936. Having recovered £18,000 of that from Allan’s pension the bank was still owed more than £240,000 as of June this year.

Whilst on bail Allan worked in car sales and in 2023 sold three vehicles to buyers under her company’s name but had payments made into her personal bank account, netting her more than £37,000. Two of the vehicles were never delivered.

Allan, formerly of Buxton Street, Lee Mount, Halifax, was said to have taken out a payday loan when she was 18 that plunged her into “a vicious cycle of debt” and that ultimately led to her abusing her position of trust at the bank by committing fraud.

On jailing her in June Mr Recorder Bryan Cox KC told Allan that her deception showed “a considerable degree of sophistication” and that she had abused her position at Lloyds Bank to extract money from friends, family, and other acquaintances.

He said: “Your ability to perpetrate this offending shows a high degree of callousness and disregard for the lives of other people, some of whom you purported to be in friendship with.

“You were tricking people and misleading them to part with substantial sums of money.”

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一名前银行职员诈骗了多名受害者数十万英镑，被勒令偿还 1 英镑的象征性金额。

布拉德福德刑事法庭获悉，安娜贝尔·艾伦通过视频链接从约克附近的阿斯卡姆格兰奇监狱出庭，她通过精心设计了一个复杂的虚假股票计划，获利 717,507.50 英镑。

2019 年，这位 29 岁的两个孩子的母亲因其欺诈行为的规模被曝光后被劳埃德银行解雇。

今年六月，她被判入狱四年。

艾伦在哈利法克斯劳埃德银行的 IT 部门工作时，设计了一个详细而令人信服的虚假劳埃德股票计划，并以她的 IT 工作为掩护，让家人、朋友和同事投资数万英镑。

她通过发送来自劳埃德银行一个名叫“德克兰·毕晓普”的虚构人物的虚假电子邮件和信息来支持她的欺骗行为。

五名受害者向该虚假骗局支付了超过 278,000 英镑。有些人收到了退款，但这种欺骗意味着这些钱是其他人的投资。

一位妇女捐出了她一生的积蓄。

艾伦，原住哈利法克斯李山巴克斯顿街，据说她在 18 岁时申请了一笔发薪日贷款，这使她陷入了“债务的恶性循环”，最终导致她滥用在银行的信托地位实施欺诈。

6 月份，在将她监禁时，法官布莱恩·考克斯 (Bryan Cox) KC 告诉艾伦，她​​的欺骗行为显示出“相当高超的技巧”，并且她滥用自己在劳埃德银行的职位，从朋友、家人和其他熟人那里骗取钱财。

他说道：“你实施这种犯罪行为表明你对其他人的生命高度冷酷无情和漠视，其中一些人你声称与他们是朋友。
“你在欺骗人们并误导他们花掉大笔金钱。”

(Warwickshire Police)
Man jailed for theft, burglary, and fraud
Published:15:06 11/11/2024

On Tuesday 7 May at around 1am, Frazer Gallagher was caught on doorbell camera footage approaching a property on Murray Road in Rugby, before attempting to enter the property.

After forcing the first door open, Gallagher was prevented from entering the property any further by a second locked door.

In the morning, the victim discovered that someone had entered his car, and that his wallet had been stolen during the night.

At 2am, Gallagher entered a petrol station on Market Street in Lutterworth and bought £27.09 worth of items using a debit card stolen from the car on Murray Road. Again, Gallagher was recorded on CCTV.

An additional £400 worth of transactions were recorded on the debit card over the course of the evening, including energy bills and a takeaway delivery.

It was later discovered that on 18 April at 2am Gallagher had unsuccessfully attempted to gain entry to a further address on Bow Fell in Rugby – again, he was caught on CCTV, and recognised by his clothing which he had worn during the other incidents.

Frazer Gallagher, 33 of no fixed abode, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a surcharge of £228, following charges of theft of a motor vehicle, attempt burglary, two counts of burglary with intent to steal, theft, and fraud by false representation.

Gallagher was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on 4 November.

Investigating officer DC Chloe Smith said “Over the course of his spree, Gallagher has invaded the homes of victims and left them feeling insecure in the spaces they should feel safest in.

“Fortunately for the victims, Gallagher had an affinity with the camera – on every occasion of theft, fraud, and burglary, he had his image captured by CCTV and doorbell footage.

“We hope the sentence signals to the community that the actions of Gallagher and other burglars like him will not go unpunished.”

—

(沃里克郡警察局)
男子因偷窃、入室盗窃和欺诈被判入狱

5 月 7 日星期二凌晨 1 点左右，门铃摄像头拍到弗雷泽·加拉格尔 (Frazer Gallagher) 走近拉格比市默里路的一处房屋，然后试图进入该房屋。

强行打开第一扇门后，第二扇锁着的门阻止了加拉格尔进一步进入房屋。

第二天早上，受害者发现有人进入了他的车，并且他的钱包在夜间被偷了。

凌晨 2 点，加拉格尔进入拉特沃思市场街的一家加油站，用从默里路的车上偷来的借记卡购买了价值 27.09 英镑的物品。加拉格尔的行踪再次被闭路电视拍下。

当晚，借记卡上又记录了价值 400 英镑的交易，包括能源费和外卖费。

后来发现，4 月 18 日凌晨 2 点，加拉格尔曾试图进入拉格比 Bow Fell 的另一个地址，但没有成功——他再次被闭路电视拍到，并通过他在其他事件中穿的衣服被认出。

33 岁的无固定住所的弗雷泽·加拉格尔因涉嫌盗窃机动车、企图入室盗窃、两项意图偷窃的入室盗窃、盗窃、虚假陈述欺诈等罪名被判处三年监禁，并被责令支付 228 英镑的附加费。

11 月 4 日，加拉格尔在沃里克刑事法庭被判刑。

调查人员 DC Chloe Smith 表示，“在实施犯罪的过程中，加拉格尔侵入了受害者的家，让他们在这个本应最安全的地方感到不安全。

“对受害者来说幸运的是，加拉格尔对相机很着迷——每次发生盗窃、诈骗和入室盗窃时，他的图像都会被闭路电视和门铃录像捕捉到。

“我们希望这项判决能够向社会发出信号，加拉格尔和其他像他一样的窃贼的行为不会逍遥法外。”

(City of London Police)
Dementia carer who defrauded 96 year old man out of £143,000 to fund lavish lifestyle given suspended sentence
Press releases
Published:13:22 11/11/2024

April Jo Richardson, 32, of Stansted Close, Chelmsford, has been sentenced today after she was found guilty of fraud by abuse of power and fraud by false representation at Inner London Crown Court. Richardson was sentenced to 20, six and four months, to run concurrently, suspended for 21 months. Richardson will be required to complete 150hrs of unpaid work and 24 days of a rehabilitation programme.

Richardson, a carer, defrauded a vulnerable 96-year old man out of £143,000 to fund her lavish lifestyle, which included trips to Barbados, New York and Spain.

April Richardson had spun an intricate web of lies which included her being a cancer patient and that she desperately needed help. In one case she messaged pretending to be a cancer nurse called “Sonia” where she pleaded with the husband to provide financial aid for the “last remaining months of her life”.

After discovering that an elderly couple’s bank accounts showed significant losses, their children made a report to Action Fraud and the case was then passed on to the City of London Police’s Fraud Operations Team to investigate.

Detective Inspector Nichola Meghji, from the Fraud Operations team, at the City of London Police said:
“The case of April Richardson is shocking and highly reprehensible, especially when you consider the age and vulnerability of the couple and the total amount of money that they lost, through their generosity and kindness.
“Nurses, carers and those working in palliative care are some of the hardest working and most selfless people in the country where a lot of people, in need, rely on them. It’s therefore very sad to see this level of trust abused.
“Richardson is an incredibly manipulative individual who coerced an elderly couple to part with their money purely for her financial and material gain.”

The history of the case can be traced back to 2018 when Richardson was employed by KarePlus, on behalf of Essex County Council, as a carer. It was in this capacity that, over time, she befriended the husband of a patient in her care. The patient had suffered a stroke in 2011 and was in advancing stages of dementia, which meant her condition required personal care twice a day.

In July 2022, when it was established that the patient needed to move into a care home on a more permanent basis, her daughter was required to provide Essex County Council with bank statements from the previous three months, to gauge the patient’s financial means in order to fund her residence. It was at this stage that the couple’s children were shocked to discover that the bank accounts were overdrawn.

After gaining power of attorney in September 2022, the couple’s children were able to access detailed financial information of their parents’ bank accounts. Between September 2018 and July 2022 there were a total of 202 transactions from the couple’s bank account to April Richardson, with an average payment of one per week at £718.

The patient’s husband stated that he had been helping April Richardson over the years by providing funds for various reasons, including: new beds for her two young sons, a final holiday to Spain for her sons and her terminally ill father, an iPhone and Apple Watch to enable her to seek employment, new flooring, an urgent trip to New York for private medical treatment for cancer and flights to Barbados for her brother’s wedding.

In total, the payments made from to April Richardson exceeded £143,000 over a five-year period.

—

(伦敦金融城警察局)
痴呆症护理员诈骗 96 岁老人 143,000 英镑以资助奢侈生活方式，被判缓刑
新闻稿

32 岁的 April Jo Richardson(艾普瑞尔·理查森) 来自切姆斯福德的斯坦斯特德克洛斯，今天在伦敦内刑事法庭被判犯有滥用职权欺诈和虚假陈述欺诈罪。Richardson 被判处 20 个月、6 个月和 4 个月的监禁，同时执行，缓刑 21 个月。Richardson 将被要求完成 150 小时的无偿工作和 24 天的康复计划。

Richardson是一名护工，她从一位 96 岁老妇人身上骗取了 143,000 英镑，以资助她奢侈的生活方式，其中包括前往巴巴多斯、纽约和西班牙旅行。

April Richardson 编造了一系列错综复杂的谎言，包括她是一名癌症患者，她迫切需要帮助。有一次，她假扮为一名名叫“Sonia”的癌症护士发信息，恳求丈夫为她“生命最后几个月”提供经济援助。

在发现一对老年夫妇的银行账户出现重大损失后，他们的子女向反欺诈行动中心报案，随后该案件被转交给伦敦金融城警察局的反欺诈行动小组进行调查。

伦敦警察局反诈骗行动小组的侦缉督察 Nichola Meghji 表示：
“艾普瑞尔·理查森的案件令人震惊且应受谴责，特别是当你考虑到这对夫妇的年龄和脆弱性，以及他们因慷慨和善良而损失的金钱总额时。
“护士、护理人员和临终关怀人员是这个国家最勤奋、最无私的人，许多有需要的人都依赖他们。因此，看到这种程度的信任被滥用，我感到非常难过。
“理查森是一个非常善于操纵的人，她强迫一对老年夫妇交出他们的钱，纯粹是为了获得经济和物质利益。”