A Zimbabwean care home manager has been jailed for stealing more than £16,000 from a vulnerable client in the UK. Mavis Ngwerume ...
Mavis Ngwerume had been stealing the man's money for six years before she was rumbled. The 65-year-old tried to blame other staff at the care home but was eventually arrested and charged with fraud.
She denied the offences and was convicted by a jury of fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Reading Crown Court on Thursday. The jury heard how the 58-year-old victim was in care from the age of eight and was lacking all mental capacity when the money was stolen.
Miss Recorder Sarah Campbell described Ngwerume's actions as a 'theft of public money' due to the time Mr Parsley had spent in the care system. Sentencing Ngwerume, she said: "This despicable offence saw her steal £16,551 from the victim between June 2009 and April 2015.
Recorded Campbell said : "Because you did not plead guilty and you set out to blame others and you cannot pay the money back, it is my view you should be incarcerated. The whole tone of the evidence was to blame other people at the rest home."
Ngwerume survived two husbands and fled from Zimbabwe 17 years ago to start a life in the United Kingdom. Clare Evans, defending, argued against a custodial sentence of more than 12 months as this would jeopardise Ngwerume's position in the UK as she has neither indefinite leave to remain or citizenship, despite having lived here for 17 years.
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