A HEARTBROKEN fraud victim suffered a crippling stroke before her “sneak thief ” carer used her bank card to steal £12,500 of her life savings.

When she suffered a serious stroke in September 2017, Denise Bellman, 60, relied on her close companion of 30 years to care for her.

Brian Catney, 65, lived with Denise at her Colchester home, and looked after every aspect of her life.

Denise was left paralysed on her left side and suffered brain damage, undergoing continuing rehabilitation after a year in hospital.

But Catney took advantage of Denise’s vulnerable state, taking her bank card and stealing more than £12,000 in cash.

Denise said she first became aware of the fraud when she received a text from her bank alerting her to an overdraft limit.

“I was absolutely devastated,” she said. “My family got the police involved and he was arrested. The worst thing is I actually feel sorry for him. We were really close.

“But because he did absolutely everything, and I went through a lot when I first came out of hospital, it just feels horrible.”

She added: “He had kept all of my bank statements and kept them from me, they found piles of them in the garage.”

Catney appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court in May, where he admitted one count of fraud and possession of crack cocaine.

The court heard the offence was made more serious by the large sum of money involved, the breach of trust and the period of time over which Catney had carried out his scam.

But given his lack of previous convictions, remorse shown and immediate guilty plea, a ten-month prison sentence was suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to pay £6,000 in compensation.

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Denise now receives visits from carers four times a day and visits brain injury charity Headway Essex twice a week.

“They are amazing, they treat me like a princess,” she said, “but I feel like I can’t move on, I’m disabled and I can’t go out and about on my own.

“The worst thing is I thought he cared for me, he was certainly a good carer. I felt he had looked after me really well, but he was a thief.

“I worked for my money, I worked for 40 years and got a pension.

“I worked in admin for the Army and at one point I did three jobs at one time to manage the mortgage. This breaks my heart.”

Denise has issued a warning to others to remain vigilant when it comes to trusting others with their every day care.

“There are so many lovely carers but I never expected him to abuse my trust in this way,” she said.

“The money he has taken is money I now can’t spend on helping myself with my mobility.

“It is not money I wanted to be spent down the bookies or on drugs. If he was in a bad situation, he could have spoken to me, I could have helped him.”