A carer has received a suspended sentence after stealing thousands from an elderly woman and manipulating her will to benefit herself.
Janet Rutt, 56, from Middlesbrough, fraudulently gained power of attorney over her victim’s affairs and misused the funds to support her own lifestyle.
At Sheffield Crown Court, Rutt was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years. She claimed to police that she visited the elderly woman in South Yorkshire up to three times a week to provide care. However, investigators utilized Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to reveal that she had not made these visits as frequently as she asserted.
Authorities uncovered that Rutt had depleted both the victim’s savings and pension. To conceal her actions, she canceled the delivery of bank statements to the elderly woman’s home.
Rutt had exaggerated the woman’s vulnerability to social services, securing the power of attorney and orchestrating a will that named her as the primary beneficiary. When the victim’s nephew confronted Rutt about the missing funds, she attempted to manipulate the situation further by suggesting the woman sell her house and move in with her, claiming her power of attorney allowed her to make such decisions.
The situation escalated when the elderly woman reported the disappearance of her birth and marriage certificates, which were later discovered in Rutt’s possession.
PC Lynn Robins commented, “Throughout this investigation, Rutt showed no remorse, believing her position gave her the right to take whatever she wanted for her own gain. The victim detailed her experiences during a vulnerable time, and Rutt abused that trust, thinking she would never be caught. However, our forensic accountant revealed the true extent of her actions.”