Carer's fraud was "ultimate betrayal" (From Western Telegraph)

Carer's fraud was "ultimate betrayal"

1:00pm Sunday 15th July 2012 in News

A Milford Haven woman whose carer fraudulently cashed cheques in her name totalling more than £5,000 said it was the ‘ultimate betrayal’ from a woman she would have trusted with her life.

Heather Gough, of Vaynor Road, has had multiple sclerosis for more than 25 years and relies on daily support from carers since becoming a wheelchair user.

At Swansea Crown Court, her former carer Pearl Rachel Compton, aged 59, admitted making false representations to branches of Barclays and NatWest that she had been authorised by Ms Gough to present cheques.

The cheques, 20 in all, ranged in value from £40 to £600 and were presented to the banks between March 3st1, 2010, and May 1st, 2011.

Ms Gough said: “I was totally dependent on Pearl.

She had the freedom of my house and I thought of her as a friend.

“I would have trusted her with my life.”

The news from police left Ms Gough in shock.

“I had a pain in my heart, it really hurt,” she said.

Ms Gough said she had noticed that she wasn’t receiving bank statements in the post and even threatened to change banks. She shared her concerns with Compton who said she had been experiencing the same problem.

The 59-year-old said she never suspected Compton was removing the statements from her post or using her cheque book.

“I had never suspected anything was going on,” she said.

Ms Gough added that the pair would go out for lunch and go shopping together and had become good friends over the three years she worked for her.

Ms Gough said the experience has left her much more cautious and apprehensive when dealing with carers and said since her arrest Compton has shown no remorse for her ‘devious’ actions.

Compton, who already had convictions for fraud, has been warned a prison sentence is the most likely outcome.

The case has been adjourned for pre-sentence reports