The elderly victim of a thieving carer who stole more than £75,000 has spoken for the first time about her devastating betrayal of trust.
Rebecca Fidler, 34, tried to cover her tracks as she plundered the life savings of city couple Annie and the late Bill Gass over many months while charged with looking after their health and well-being.
Fidler was entrusted with the couple’s bank card to make pension withdrawals but instead stole money on an often daily basis and splashed her ill-gotten gains on online gambling, cocaine and takeaway meals.
After bank employees eventually became suspicious, the thefts came to light and Fidler’s deceit was exposed.
And 91-year-old Annie — whose husband died in December aged 96 and never got to see Fidler jailed for 30 months at Carlisle Crown Court last week — revealed that the thief continued her bid to cheat justice even after being arrested and bailed.
“One time she says to me ‘I’ve a favour to ask of you, Annie’. She said ‘I want you to take the blame’,” recalled the former city shoe shop manager who said she immediately threatened to contact police in response.
“Everybody trusted her. The police come and told us and said a lot of your money has come out the bank. I felt terrible. Nobody could believe it. She had looked after us well but she’d been pinching from the beginning. We didn’t realise.
“I thought she was going to get away with it and I was getting upset. She thought she’d get away with it because she had a good lawyer.”
Great-grandmother Annie was married to Bill, a Royal Navy Second World War veteran, for more than 70 years and watched over a video link from home as Fidler was locked up by a judge who called her offending “dreadful”. Her trust in people has been shattered, and she added: “She never paid any money back which is terrible. I’m pleased she’s away (in prison). I’m pleased it’s all over and the police did a good job. I think she should have got longer but at least she’s away. Bill’s dead and he never got to see her sentenced.”
Tens of thousands of pounds have been reimbursed by the bank but around half the stolen money remains missing.
That has prompted one of her two children, 67-year-old part-time wagon driver Steve, to launch an online GoFundMe fund-raising appeal in a bid to help his mum claw back some of her lost savings.
“They worked hard all their lives and saved for their retirement,” he said.
As his parents became infirm, they required vital help with day-to-day living and met Fidler, who began working for them. “She couldn’t do enough,” said Steve. “Nothing phased her, just one of these people you thought ‘my God, she’s a saint’. She seemed absolutely lovely.”
But Carlisle Crown Court heard neither the couple nor their family had any inkling that devious Fidler was stealing from them.
“They were really upset,” he added. “They really trusted her. It’s affected ma’s trust something terrible. Anybody asks her anything and she thinks everybody is trying to steal her money.”
Steve is asking anybody who wishes to donate money to visit the GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/annie-bill-deceased
