British cop stole £23,000 from widow, aged 94: Officer dubbed 'a disgrace to the uniform' also forged pensioner's will and pocketed war medals

A policeman stole £23,000 from a 94-year-old widow and forged her will in an attempt to inherit the bulk of her £400,000 estate.

PC Jonathan Webb was described by colleagues as an ‘utter disgrace to the uniform’ after he was jailed for six years yesterday.

The South Yorkshire Police officer admitted preying on a trusting pensioner, whom he befriended after he was called to her home when she had a fall.

He volunteered to visit her in hospital afterwards, and when she had recovered he gained access to her bank accounts. He set up internet banking and applied for a cash card so he could withdraw money at will, often taking £300 a day.

He even closed down a pension account so he could access her life savings, Leeds Crown Court heard.

He also typed a false will on his victim’s typewriter, using details from her old will to craft a new document making himself the main beneficiary.

Webb, who has five children from three marriages, was exposed after he came under suspicion for another offence, in which he stole £1,000 and 500 US dollars recovered after a burglary.

Officers investigating the case found the pensioner’s faked will in the boot of his car, and a box of Second World War medals in his locker – the product of another theft.

Webb, 45, of Millhouses, Sheffield, resigned in May after 20 years in the force. He admitted five charges of theft, five of fraud and one of forgery.

Sentencing, Judge Guy Kearl QC said: ‘You have brought disgrace upon yourself and upon the police service for whom you served many years and you have undermined the public confidence in our police service.

‘I am satisfied once you had seen her [the victim] you had selected her as your prey and then you committed sophisticated and planned acts of fraud and theft on a frail and confused elderly lady.’

Alisha Kaye, prosecuting, told the court Webb had visited the pensioner on more than 30 occasions. The victim was ‘independent’ and had ‘worked very hard for everything she owns’, the court heard. She has no surviving relatives.

Miss Kaye said: ‘She does not fully understand why the defendant has done this to her. It is very hard for her now to trust anyone.

‘The defendant preyed upon her vulnerability, she trusted him as a friend. She trusted the defendant because he was a policeman and said it is his job to look after people like her.’

Webb’s barrister Sam Green said the former officer realised his behaviour was ‘disgraceful and despicable’, and wished to ‘apologise unreservedly’.

Original report here

　

　

　

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