Woman jailed for defrauding elderly Bexhill victim

Dawn Weston. Picture courtesy of Sussex Police

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A woman who stole an estimated Â£240,000 from an elderly Bexhill man after taking over his life has been jailed for five years.

Dawn Weston, 58, also known as Saytch, manipulated her victim for her own gain, but at Lewes Crown Court on Friday (February 24) her callous criminality caught up with her.

Weston first appeared before a court in February last year, turning up in a wheelchair and claiming she was too unwell to stand trial.

But her attempts to evade justice failed, and following a two-and-a-half-week trial in December, during which she made her victim go through the ordeal of giving evidence, she was finally sent to prison by Judge Paul Tain.

Police said Weston was charged with six separate offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and convicted of five.

The offences took place between November 2011 and December 2013 in Bexhill.

The court heard how she had befriended her victim, who was in ill health and alone without family, claiming to be his carer and persuading him to grant her power of attorney over his finances.