Pc who fleeced widow of 94 jailed and branded ‘disgrace to uniform’

Jonathan Webb, 45, transferred thousands from the pensioner’s accounts into those to which he had access and even forged a new will to gain control of her £400,000 estate when she died, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The South Yorkshire Police officer with 20 years experience, from Millhouses, Sheffield, was yesterday jailed for six years after admitting 11 offences of theft, fraud and forgery.

The court heard that after volunteering to attend a local hospital after the frail pensioner had fallen, he was able to gain access to her bank accounts. He transferred thousands into others he controlled and made daily withdrawals or purchases at supermarkets or on the website Amazon.

Webb, who has five children with three previous wives, was said to have debts of £60,000 and a “social life which had gone beyond his means”.

Sam Green, mitigating, said: “He knows very well he has sacrificed his good character, his career and his decency on the altar of greed.”

Judge Guy Kearl QC, sentencing, told him: “You have brought disgrace upon yourself and upon the police force for whom you served for many years.”

South Yorkshire Police described Webb as an “utter disgrace to the uniform”, while Alisha Kaye of the Crown Prosecution Service said his actions were a “calculated and despicable series of crimes”.