Home help who defrauded pensioner is imprisoned

Theresa Frost took at least £57,000 after befriending Trevor Walshaw, of Huddersfield, who trusted her with his account details, and would have got more if a bank had not become suspicious about attempts to get £112,000 from the sale of his home.

The pensioner, now 81, even made Frost the sole beneficiary of his will, which Judge Tom Bayliss QC told her “was an act of kindness demonstrating the trust he had in you.”

But that had the effect, he said, of Frost treating Mr Walshaw’s money as her own. He said: “His money presented you with a lifestyle you and your family simply couldn’t afford, cars, foreign holidays and other luxuries and rewards you got for yourself.”

He said when it looked as though the pensioner was going to end up in care in 2012 she had planned for the sale of both their properties and the purchase of another house in Huddersfield where he could live with them.

The judge told Frost: “I don’t dispute you expected him to come and live with you, how long that arrangement would have lasted given your responsibilities and family circumstances is open to question. But I am sure the reason you wanted him to live with you was to get your hands on his money by then all the rest of had gone.”

Frost, 44 of Stanley Road, Lindley, Huddersfield was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court last month on 12 charges of fraud involving a total of £192,000. She appeared at York Crown Court for sentence.

Her husband Paul, 53, who was found guilty on one joint charge of fraud by using £14,317 of Mr Walshaw’s money to pay off two loans, was jailed for four months.