Pensioner haunted by cruel deception

The heartbroken daughter of a fraud victim who was fleeced out of £11,000 by a trusted care worker today revealed how the "horror and disbelief" of the deception had sent her mother's health into a downward spiral.

Former school teacher Margaret Phillips, from Stafford, died a year after Lynda Greatrix's theft was discovered.

Today her daughter Anne Lewis-Williams told how the carer was a "virtual family member".

Greatrix, aged 58, of Sycamore Crescent, Brereton, admitted two charges of fraud relating to thousands of pounds she stole from then 89-year-old Mrs Phillips. She walked free from Stafford Crown Court with a suspended sentence.

After the hearing Greatrix claimed the theft had been motivated by fear her drug addict son Martin would follow in the path of her daughter Sally who died 12 years ago aged 23 from an overdose.

Today Mrs Phillips' only daughter Anne Lewis-Williams hit back at the carer's "excuses for perpetrating this carefully executed deceit against my family".

She said: "My mother's shock, horror and disbelief over what had happened frightened her so much. She never, ever wanted to come back to her home after it had been dirtied and sullied by someone she had totally trusted over seven years.

"She was obsessed, dreadfully worried and concerned about her finances until I had to drip feed her the full details of the deceit.

"My mother's health, confidence and peace of mind suffered as a result. We managed to lift her spirits slightly celebrating her 90th birthday with a party, but in the background we were plagued and haunted by these awful events until August this year when she finally gave up and we lost her."

Greatrix's betrayal was uncovered when a £1,200 bill to a private nursing home was not paid. She was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to do 200 hours community work and ordered to repay £12,390.