Dudley care home bosses faked resident’s £175k will

Three former care home bosses have been convicted of creating a fake will, in an attempt to get hold of an elderly resident’s £175,000 fortune.

Graham and Lyn Walker, who owned Amberley Care Home in Brierley Hill, Dudley, and its former manager, Jamiel Slaney-Summers, were convicted of fraud and will be sentenced in December.

Prosecutors at Wolverhampton Crown Court said the trio “financially abused” Rita Barnsley, 85, who had moved into the care home after becoming unwell in May 2020.

An investigation found Ms Barnsley’s will was a “sham” with different handwriting and coloured pens, Dudley trading standards team said.

Prosecutors said the group stood to benefit from about £175,000 due to plans laid out in the will, which named Lyn Walker and Slaney-Summers as executors.

The court heard Slaney-Summers also stole around £6,000 by making withdrawals from Ms Barnsley’s bank account by using her card.

An investigation was launched by the borough council team after Ms Barnsley’s only surviving relative, her cousin Verna, made a complaint.

Councillor Phil Atkins, cabinet member responsible for trading standards, said it was a “horrific abuse of trust” and that the authority would not tolerate elder abuse of any kind.

“Their [the trio’s] intentions were clear, to fleece this poor, vulnerable woman of all the money she had worked her whole life to earn.”

He described it as a “horrific abuse of trust by three people who she was relying on to look after her best interests”.

“Instead they financially abused her and would have taken everything she had but for the dogged determination of her cousin and our trading standards team.”

Graham Walker, 74 and Lyn Walker, 71, both of Ribberford Close, Halesowen, will be sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 5 December.

Slaney-Summers, 65, of Raven Hays Road, Birmingham, was also found guilty of theft and will be sentenced on the same date.