Cruel carer defrauded £150,000 from Brighton man

Paul King, 54, took Harry Brown’s life savings over a four-year period when he was supposed to be caring for the terminally ill 88-year-old.

At the height of his dishonesty, King took £50,000 over a three-month period and was withdrawing £300 a day from Mr Brown’s account.

Family and loved ones described their friend and grandfather as a once “cheerful” man who has now “lost any zest for life”.

King, of Western Road, Brighton, attempted to conceal the fraud and stop loved ones from seeing Mr Brown.

When they did see him, they described finding Mr Brown unshaven, left in the same clothes for days and with an almost entirely empty fridge apart from one yoghurt.

King told one of Mr Brown’s friends Mary Jean Talbot that she should stop bringing him his weekly slice of cake because he was “getting too fat”.

Speaking at Lewes Crown Court, Judge Stephen Mooney described it as possibly the worst case of this type that he had ever seen.

The fraud started in January 2018 a few years after Mr Brown's partner Denis Langston introduced him to King. Denis's nephew Alan Langston was King's partner. Denis died before the fraud began.

Paul King outside of Lewes Crown Court yesterday (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

King set up online banking for Mr Brown, something he had never used before. He made 162 bank transfers into his account before he was arrested in May 2022.

Mr Brown's family, who lived in Oxford, were concerned for his welfare when they visited him at his bungalow in Bevendean Avenue, Saltdean. They said he looked unkempt and he was once a man who cared about his appearance.

East Sussex County Council was contacted and a social worker reported it to the police.

The bungalow was put up for sale. Gus Walter, prosecuting, said King was intending to steal the profits.

King eventually admitted his fraud in a police interview and blamed it on a gambling addiction.

Mr Brown’s great-niece Kelly Davies said in a statement read out in court that the fraud has had an “immeasurable effect on Harry”.  

She said: “It always seemed a little odd to us. My memories of him he was a cheerful person. Concern grew when we learned his bungalow was up for sale. Paul King eventually said to Mary (Mr Brown’s friend) that she should stop giving his weekly piece of cake because he was getting too fat.

• READ MORE: Judge decides that terminally ill man's carer stole five times more than he admitted

“It was clear that he was in total shock when he learned that his home was sold. He was told he would go into a flat on a trial basis and be able to go back to his bungalow if he wanted.

“Harry kept repeating ‘I cannot believe this’. He was frightened and confused, he has been in limbo for years. He has lost any zest for life and said it is his time to go.

“It made him feel very stupid. He feels everything has been taken from him. It has affected our wider family too. I have personally spent hours trawling through bank accounts. It has dominated our lives for two years.

"He should have spent his final years in his bungalow but that was taken away from him by a cowardly and pathetic man."

He is now living in a care home.

Sentencing King yesterday, Judge Mooney said had took advantage of “an extremely loving man” who looked to him for help.

“In a relatively short period of time, you began to see him not as someone to care for but as someone you could fleece,” said Judge Mooney.

“The harm you caused to Harry was catastrophic. You destroyed his hopes and dreams for the future.”  

Judge Mooney sentenced King to seven years in prison. He will serve four years and eight months due to his guilty plea.