Fraudsters took pensioner with dementia to Post Office to steal £1,000 of savings, court hears

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime ... rs-5138799



Fraudsters took a pensioner suffering from dementia to a Post Office in a bid to swindle him out of £1,000 in savings, a court heard today.
Police claimed Edward McDonagh, 31, was involved in the attempted coercion as part of a series of scams targeting vulnerable victims across Northern Ireland.

McDonagh is also accused of stealing cash from an elderly woman during a bogus offer to fix her guttering, and of taking a mobile phone from a sleeping hospital patient.

The defendant, of Mill Race in west Belfast, appeared at the city’s Magistrates Court on charges of theft, fraud by false representation and burglary.

A PSNI officer said the manager of a Spar store on the Millburn Road in Coleraine first raised concerns about an elderly customer in February last year.


CCTV footage showed the pensioner being brought to the shop in a van by three men.

One of the trio escorted him towards the Post Office desk inside where an initial attempt was made to withdraw £1,000 in cash.

Due to the victim’s confused state, it was alleged that McDonagh brought him to the counter and said: “He needs to lift £350.”

However, he realised he did not have his card and was unable to tell staff the name of his bank, the court heard.

All three men then got back into the van and drove off, leaving him outside the shop until a neighbour brought him home and contacted police.

“The concerning factor here is that the elderly male has not provided a statement as he is in the advanced stages of dementia,” the PSNI officer disclosed.


McDonagh is also accused of targeting a 78-year-old woman at her home in the Fairfield estate in Dungannon later that month.

The court heard a man called at the house saying her guttering needed repairs and agreed a price of £190 to carry out the work.

She invited him in for a cup of tea but later discovered that £180 had been stolen from her cupboards.

“When she went to speak to the male he had left the area and the work was not carried out,” the officer said.


“He had told her that his name was Eddie and he spoke with a southern accent.”

McDonagh also faces charges of theft, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon in relation to claims he stole £2,000 from an ex-partner on March 19 this year.

He allegedly smashed the window of her car with a pitchfork while it was parked at an address in Dungannon and took a bag containing the cash.

McDonagh was arrested following a final incident at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast last Sunday.

A woman receiving treatment in the Emergency Department was disturbed by a man while she slept and later discovered that her mobile phone was missing from the bay.

The court heard police tracked the device to a nearby location where McDonagh was found in a car, apparently about to snort a white powder.

When he was removed from the vehicle the phone was located on his seat.

Seeking bail for the accused, defence barrister Craig Patton accepted it was a difficult application.

He argued that McDonagh has been impacted by the death of a close family member.

But District Judge Steven Keown refused to release the defendant and remanded him in custody until later this month.

Citing the risk of harm to vulnerable members of the public, Mr Keown ruled: “It’s not a difficult application, it is an impossible one.”

[scoobydo79]

What an absolute scum bag