Carer Jailed For Stealing £171K From 95 Year-Old

A council-funded carer, who stole £171,000 from a vulnerable 95 year-old pensioner, has been jailed for two years and four months.

Nazneen Chattun, 55, cashed 71 cheques and obtained Power of Attorney, which gave her control of OAP Eileen Layton’s bank accounts.

“You came to realise quickly she was to be an excellent source of money for your needs and you started to steal from her for a sustained period,” Isleworth Crown Court Recorder Edward Jenkins QC told her.

“You acted in breach of trust of your employers and the trust society has placed in you as a carer.”

First-time offender Chattun, of Biscoe Close, Hounslow denied, but was convicted of three counts of theft totalling £171,455 between June 30 and August 21, 2013.

She gave £8,388 of Eileen’s money to her children and police fortunately restrained £130,000 in her bank account.

Mauritius-born Chattun was paid by Hounslow Council to provide care to Eileen at her home in The Drive, Isleworth.  

Hounslow social services became involved after Eileen was taken to West Middlesex Hospital’s casualty department on February 10, 2012.

They discovered she had been neglecting herself and living in sub-standard conditions.

There was no heating in the house, it leaked and she was not eating or cleaning herself properly.

Eileen gave evidence to the jury via video link, but mostly answered: “I don’t know” and: “I can’t remember” to questions.

She had lived alone for fifty years and said of Chattun: “I don’t know much about Naz. She’s someone that used to pop in every other day.

“She used to do a bit of shopping sometimes if I ever wanted any bread or whatever and sit and talk. I didn’t take much notice.

“I don’t have a lot of money surely?” said Eileen, explaining her working life was spent at a Waterloo restaurant owned by her father.

Recorder Jenkins told Chattun: “You fought the case and now at last changed your view and accepted responsibility.

“You may have been two solitary people who found some form of company and you saw this as a form of escapism rather than pure greed.

“You needed to take further steps to control her money and you got Power of Attorney over her financial affairs, showing a level of persistence and considerable sophistication.” 

Chattun’s lawyer Mr. Edward Henry said: “She will be broken if you send her to custody today. There are other ways she can be punished and helped.”