Brighton carer Kelly Constable must pay back thousands

Kelly Constable swindled a blind octogenarian pensioner on her deathbed from cancer in Brighton.

She also targeted others she cared for, stealing jewellery and cash worth £25,000, and was previously jailed.

Now a swot team of financial investigators have spoken of the hard work put in to recover cash from the 48-year-old.

The Argus reported how she was forced to repay money back under the Proceeds of Crime Act, or face being returned to prison.

It was revealed she had benefited to the tune of at least £25,000, and at Lewes Crown Court she was ordered to begin her repayments.

Greedy Brighton carer Kelly Constable must pay back cash she stole from people she looked after then swindled in Brighton

Speaking after the case Detective Inspector Mark O'Brien of the Sussex Police Economic Crime Unit said: "These Orders come from continued hard work by our officers, in particular our expert financial investigators.

“Wherever possible we now target not just the criminals but also the profits of their crimes, whether they are from drug dealing or any other form of criminal activity.

“It can take time but each investigation results in an application for a court-authorised Order.

"Assets currently available are sometimes less than the amount originally stolen but we keep records of all confiscation orders where the full benefit amount isn’t immediately available and have means of regularly checking to identify any additional assets which have been obtained since the original order was made.

"We can then apply to the court for an increase in the original order.”

Read more on this story:

• Brighton carer Kelly Constable jailed over jewellery and cash thefts
• Greedy carer must pay-up over thefts from vulnerable pensioners

DI O’Brien said further work can be done with the Asset Confiscation Enforcement team or the South East Organised Crime Unit (Serocu) for identify more assets.

Constable, of Cheapside, Brighton, was ordered to pay back £2,500 within three months or face six months behind bars.

She stole from Elaine Mitchell, a blind octogenarian, who was in hospital dying from cancer, taking jewellery worth £15,000.

The items were “irreplaceable” and included gifts from Mrs Mitchell’s Christening, as well as one piece of jewellery which had been with Mrs Mitchell’s family since 1802.

Mrs Mitchell’s son said he felt anger and guilt at not believing his mother’s concerns about items going missing.

Lewes Crown Court.

“I will never have the chance to apologise,” he said. “For that, I will never be able to forgive Kelly Constable.”

Constable stole the keys from around the neck of Derek Knight as he slept and stole money from his safe worth £5,000.

She also stole from Vicky Roper and Jack Shepherd in a care home where she worked.

In July 2020 Constable, of Cheapside, Brighton, was jailed for three years for theft and for possession of cocaine.

His Honour Judge Mark Van Der Zwart told her: “You lined your pockets with their cash and their most treasured possessions. Your motivation was not that you had fallen on hard times beyond your control, your motivation was sheer greed.

“All right-thinking people will be appalled by your conduct.”

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