ALLEN: LET-OFF FOR BROTHERS WHO STOLE £2,000 FROM A ELDERLY WOMAN
Two cruel brothers who stole £2,000 from an elderly woman after befriending were spared jail today (Tues) because they are drugs addicts.
Paul Allen, 36, span a series of sob stories to Joan Barmby, 78, before borrowing £1,300 from the retired special needs teacher.
When Mrs Barmby asked for her money back, he offered to get his brother Dean Allen, 40, to paint her home in Wanstead, east London, for free to settle the debt.
She was then ripped off again after agreeing to hand over her cash card to pay for materials to Dean, who used it to withdraw £750.
Judge Martyn Zeidman told them: ‘You have both, in slightly different ways, abused the kindness of a good 78-year-old woman.
‘What you did here is to exploit your position of trust in relation to her, and caused her great unhappiness.
‘You caused her great unhappiness at a senior stage in her life – it is a disgraceful way to behave, it is unkind, it is cruel.’
But the judge gave them suspended jail sentences because of their drug addictions and mental health problems.
The court heard how Paul Allen first met Ms Barmby around July 2009, when he cold-called at her home, offering to wash her car.
He began calling at her home regularly, visiting around twice a week, and would tell her what she described as ‘exaggerated’ sob stories to persuade her to lend him money.
The pensioner would usually give him a £5 loan on each visit on the understanding that he would pay it back.
But Paul Allen only repaid some £20 from the £1,300 he borrowed.
Mrs Barmby was left ‘frequently distressed and disappointed’ when Paul Allen let her down, and wrote him letters explaining how upset she was.
A year after their first meeting, Paul Allen knocked on her door and said Dean would paint her house for nothing.
He did not explain that the two were related.
Ms Barmby agreed to the scheme, but Dean Allen then told her that he wanted cash to pay for paint and materials.
In July 2010, Mrs Barmby agreed to hand Dean her Lloyds TBS card and pin so he could withdraw the cash.
They had agreed he would take out £30, but he took out £250.
On another occasion while working at the house he withdrew another £500, the court was told.
Allen also failed to complete the painting he had promised, only completing the the hallway and part of the stairwell.
Paul Allen, of (22) Sultan Road, Wanstead, admitted gaining £1,300 from Ms Barmby by fraud between
1 July 2009 and 1 August 2010.
Dean Allen, of (243) Chigwell Road, Woodford Green, admitted two counts of theft, both on 11 August 2010.
The judge told Paul Allen: ‘You told terrible lies to this lady to induce her to give you money and she believed you – she is a trusting person and wanted to be kind.’
He said: ‘I have no doubt you both deserve a prison sentence.
‘The effect on the victim has been huge, and that is a significant aggravating feature.’
But he said he would spare the pair from jail after hearing they both have drug addictions and mental health problems.
Both brothers were given concurrent year-long jail sentence for each of the counts they admitted, suspended for 18 months, and 60 hours of unpaid work each.
Paul Allen was required to undertake a year long mental health programme and drug testing, while Dean Allen was given a year long drugs treatment programme.
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