Sheffield couple who stole £95,000 from elderly dementia sufferer who entrusted her finances to them are jailed

David Ripley, 57, of Oaks Fold Road, Shiregreen, and his ex-partner Tracey Cooke, 51, 'exploited and defrauded' the victim, who had entrusted Ripley to look after her finances from 2014 onwards.

The pair stole from her for four years before social services and the Office of the Public Guardian alerted South Yorkshire Police in 2018, when it was noticed that substanstial withdrawals had been made from the woman's savings account.

Officers launched an investigation and found a host of fraudulent transactions, including hundreds of cash withdrawals made without the victim’s knowledge or consent.

On September 30, Ripley was jailed for 39 months for fraud and Cooke was given a suspended sentence and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Investigating officer PC Lynn Robins said: “This was a shocking campaign of deceit, in which Ripley and Cooke exploited and defrauded the victim, who tragically died whilst the case was being investigated.

“Through various agencies working together to protect society’s most vulnerable, we were able to launch an investigation and bring them to justice.”